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In recognition of the impact Covid has had on individuals and the Afon Nedd Ministry Area community, a memorial stone has been placed and will be blessed in the grounds of St Thomas’ Church, Neath.The stone placed in the churchyard has been surrounded with rosemary which is a symbol of remembrance. Ministry Area Lead, Rev’d Lynda Newman will bless the stone and hold a service on Sunday 26th March.Rev’d Lynda has sent invitations to undertakers, the crematorium and doctors surgeries in the area to attend the service along with dignitaries, schools and the community. The service will be attended by the town counsellors, county counsellors, assembly members, the High Sheriff and the Lord Lieutenant.Rev’d Lynda said “We hope that those who would feel comforted will turn up. This service is for all in the community.”Rev’d Lynda felt now is the time for memorial because sufficient time since the height of the pandemic has passed allowing for a more objective reflection now raw emotions have settled.The stone is representative of the impact of Covid on the whole of the Afon Nedd Ministry Area but will be positioned in the oldest of Neath’s churches, St Thomas.“I felt that we should have a stone in the old parish church,” said Rev’d Lynda. “Throughout history, events have been recorded and I just felt that it was necessary to mark the pandemic in some way as well. So, we commissioned a stone to be built and put in. It is not just for those who died during COVID, but for all who suffered.”St. Thomas’ was the garrison church serving the Norman occupants of the nearby 12th century castle and when Henry VIII broke from Rome in 1533/34, this church was rededicated to St. Thomas the Apostle.The Covid memorial will join a large war memorial also in the churchyard which commemorates the many local people who gave their lives in the Great War of 1914/18. Read more about the history of St Thomas’ Church.