Sunderland gets ready to join in with a rousing round of applause for frontline workers

The country will come together at 8pm on Thursday, March 26, to clap those who are fighting to keep Britain going through the coronavirus outbreak.

The Clap For Our Carers campaign is gathering pace all over the country.

The message circulating on social media asks people to ‘either stand on doorsteps, or open a window and clap and cheer as loudly as you can for all the frontline workers - NHS staff, carers, food and medicine delivery drivers, shop workers and anyone else on the frontline, risking their own lives to make yours better’.”

Nationally, the campaign had already received more than 500,000 likes on Facebook on Wednesday with the amazing people of Wearside among those to get involved.

Kirsty McGurrell, the founder of the 4Louis charity, is among those backing the cause.

Kirsty, from Washington, set up 4Louis to support families through miscarriage, stillbirth and child loss, after losing her own son Louis in 2009.

It produces memory boxes to help grieving parents build memories of their children and come to terms with their loss.

She said: “It is a shame that it takes a virus to bring to light how these effective these people are and how much they are dedicated to caring for others.

“They put themselves at risk every day, not just during the coronavirus. They are always on the frontline when it gets really bad.”

Kirsty was the community champion at the 2019 Best of Wearside Awards for her incredible work on behalf of families who have suffered a miscarriage, stillbirth, neonatal or child death.

Kirsty and her family were devastated when her first son Louis was stillborn in 2009, but they channelled their grief to support others by creating a charity to provide free memory boxes to hospitals.

What started as a small batch of boxes to be given to Sunderland Royal Hospital has snowballed to become a charity which supports people across the country.

It supplies boxes to 949 hospitals and units in the UK.

Now she is backing the Clap For Our Carers campaign along with thousands of others across the country.

People across the UK can clap from their gardens, front doors, and balconies to show their support at 8pm on Thursday, March 26.

We want Wearside and County Durham people to send us their videos as they show their support for the heroes. As soon as you give your round of applause, make sure you share your video with on the Sunderland Echo Facebook page and @sunderlandecho on Twitter.