Broken wooden spoon, used to bang saucepans during the weekly 'Clap for Our Carers', March-May 2020

Broken wooden spoon, used to bang saucepans during the weekly 'Clap for Our Carers' which took place in the United Kingdom every Thursday evening at 8pm between 26 March and 28 May 2020. The social movement was initiated by Annemarie Plas, a Dutch expatriate living in London, to show appreciation and support for NHS and key workers during the COVID-19 global pandemic.

These wooden spoons were used by two sisters, aged ten and six, to ‘bang saucepans furiously to support the NHS and key workers’ outside their home in Berkshire on Thursday evenings during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK and Europe. The girls enjoyed participating in the ‘Clap for Our Carers’ to express their pride and respect for family and friends working on the frontline and for the sense of community the routine fostered.

The spoons, which eventually split from the force, are a physical memento of a ritual millions of British people – including public figures, Royals and politicians – participated in. Although criticised by some as being an empty gesture amid chronic underfunding and equipment shortages, the movement received extensive media coverage at the time and is likely to endure in the collective memory of the pandemic.