Textile door wreath made with rainbow inspired colours, made by Sammie Read, to say thank you to key workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, made in Essex, 2020

Made from scraps of material from her crafting activities, Sammie hung this wreath on her front door for much of 2020. During the COVID-19 rainbow pictures, flags, and crafts appeared in people’s homes, business, and social media, at first to show support for frontline health workers and later all key workers.

Key workers are a range of people identified by the UK government as providing an essential service. These include people working in health and social care; education and childcare; key public services such as charities and journalists; local and national government for the COVID-19 response and essential public services; public safety and national security; transport including freight and supply chains; financial services, communication, and utilities.

33% of the total national workforce are key workers according to the UK Office for National Statistics. Key workers could still send their children to school if needed. They were also prioritised for COVID-19 testing due to the nature of their roles, and many supermarkets gave key workers priority access due to short term supply issues.