About us
The UK Commission on Covid Commemoration has been established to secure a broad consensus from across the whole of the United Kingdom on how we commemorate the COVID-19 pandemic and mark this distinctive period in our history at a national and community level. The Commission is expected to report to the Prime Minister by the end of March 2023.
About the Commission
The UK Commission on Covid Commemoration will work to secure a broad consensus from across the whole of the United Kingdom on how we commemorate the COVID-19 pandemic and mark this distinctive period in our history at a national and community level.
Who we are
Our current members are:
Chair of the Commission - Rt Hon Baroness Morgan of Cotes
Baroness Morgan was the Conservative MP for Loughborough from 2010 to 2019. She held several ministerial posts including as the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and Secretary of State for Education. She became a member of the House of Lords in January 2020. She was a member of the House of Lords COVID-19 Select Committee. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Baroness Morgan volunteered as an NHS Responder and continues to volunteer as a Vaccine Centre steward.
Sir Nicholas Coleridge CBE
Sir Nicholas was co-chair of The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Pageant. He is Chairman of the Victoria and Albert Museum and Chairman of the Prince of Wales’ Campaign for Wool. Sir Nicholas is also an Ambassador for the Landmark Trust. He received a knighthood for services to Museums, to Publishing and to the Creative Industries in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List 2022.
Dr Nadine Cossette
Dr Nadine Cossette is a liaison psychiatrist at the Royal Infirmary Edinburgh. In 2020, she pioneered a report commissioned by the Scottish Government into improving and delivering compassionate mental health treatment for hospitalised COVID-19 patients during the pandemic.
Rt Hon Caroline Flint
Caroline Flint was the Labour MP for Don Valley from 1997 to 2019. She served in a number of Ministerial posts including Minister for Public Health from 2005-2007. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she volunteered at a vaccination centre and has spoken extensively on the recovery from the pandemic. Caroline was appointed chair of Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust in 2021.
Denise Hayward
Denise Hayward has been Chief Executive with Volunteer Now, the lead organisation for promoting and supporting volunteering across Northern Ireland, since August 2017. Volunteer Now played a key role in mobilising and coordinating the community response to the Covid pandemic. Denise is also the Northern Ireland lead on the Mobilising Voluntary Action group which is exploring voluntary action responses to the pandemic across the UK.
Felicia Kwaku OBE
Felicia Kwaku is the chair of the Chief Nursing Officer & Chief Midwifery Officer’s (for England) Black Minority Ethnic Strategic Advisory Group which provides invaluable expertise and insight into ethnic disparities across the Nursing & Midwifery profession and healthcare provision. She is an Associate Director of Nursing and the Senior Head of Nursing for Acute Speciality Medicine at King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. She received an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List 2020 for services to nursing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
General Sir Gordon Messenger KCB, DSO & Bar, OBE, DL
General Sir Gordon Messenger is a retired Royal Marines senior officer who served as the Vice-Chief of Defence Staff from 2016 to 2019. From October 2020 to February 2021, he supported the establishment of the Community Testing Programme as part of the national Covid response. He led a review into leadership across health and social care in England, which reported in June 2022. He is also a non-executive member of the UK Health Security Agency and a Deputy Lieutenant of Somerset. In August 2022 he became the new Constable of the Tower of London.
Gillian Norton OBE DL
Gillian Norton is the chair for both St George’s University Hospital Foundation Trust and Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust. Prior to this, she worked extensively in the public sector, including as Chief Executive of Richmond and Wokingham Borough Councils and is the representative Deputy Lieutenant for Richmond upon Thames.
Ndidi Okezie OBE
Ndidi Okezie is the CEO of UK Youth; a leading national charity with an open network of over 8000 youth organisations across the UK, who collectively reach over 4 million young people. Prior to joining UK Youth, Ndidi’s career spans across the education, charity and corporate sectors. Her former roles include teacher, school leader, Executive Director of Teach First and Vice President at Pearson PLC. Ndidi currently sits on the Board of NCS, Teach For All and Sky’s Diversity Advisory Council. She received an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List 2020 for services to young people during COVID-19.
Professor Keshav Singhal MBE, FLSW
Professor Keshav Singhal is a Consultant Orthopaedic surgeon at the Princess of Wales hospital in Bridgend and the Chairman of the First Minister’s All Wales COVID-19 Risk Assessment Group - the group that pioneered the COVID-19 risk assessment tool for NHS, Public sectors and businesses in Wales and it has been used over 100,000 times and helped sustain public services during the height of the pandemic. He is also the chair of the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin in Wales and has been instrumental in facilitating trainee doctors from India to join the NHS.
Sir Mark Walport FRCP FRCPath FRS FMedSci HonFRSE
Sir Mark Walport is currently chair of Imperial College Health Partners. He has extensive experience in the life sciences, government and national research and innovation organisations, including as the founding Chief Executive of UK Research and Innovation and as the Director of the Wellcome Trust. Sir Mark also served as Government Chief Scientific Adviser from 2013 to 2017.
Contact us
If you wish to ask a question about the Commission, please email us at UKCovidCommemoration@cabinetoffice.gov.uk.
We aim to respond to correspondence within 20 working days, when a response is required, however, it may take longer to respond in busier periods.
Alternatively, you can write to the Commission at:
Correspondence Team
Cabinet Office
70 Whitehall
London
SW1A 2AS
United Kingdom