A large scale sculpture honouring those who have lost their lives to Covid-19 will be on display in Medway in 2021.

The piece, titled 'The Leaves of the Trees,' is made up of 5000 steel leaves engraved with the word 'hope,' and will be installed inside Rochester cathedral.

The project, supported by the Guild of Health and St Raphael, was created by sculptor and artist Peter Walker.

Mr Walker, who hails from Staffordshire, is hoping the touring sculpture will also make the people of Medway think in a different way about the coronavirus pandemic.

He said: "Early on in the pandemic there was a sense that we were moving away from the individual and towards concentration on the collective - we were bombarded with facts and statistics and a weight of data that became all consuming of everything we heard or watched or read.

"Yet as individuals and small family units we have had to face this strangest and most difficult of years.

"I wanted to create something which allowed the individual to have a moment out, to reflect and to consider their own experience."

The sculpture will change as it travels across the country - due to the leaves being crafted from steel, they will steadily rust and corrode as time passes.

Mr Walker said: "This autumnal change is cathartic, and important for as the leaves fall each year it signals the end of something, but also signals the beginning of the landscape regenerating for the next year ahead.

The sculptor added: "Things do come to pass, things do change, however even as they age and change their beauty remains.

"I hope that people in Rochester and the surrounding area visit and enjoy the work when it arrives in 2021."

The installation is due to arrive next April, but specific dates have yet to be announced.

Currently the project is installed in Exeter cathedral.

It will then appear in Sheffield and Lichfield, before arriving in Rochester next year.

The project follows a number of exhibitions in the ancient building over the last few years, including crazy golf and a scaled-down replica of the moon .

Last year also saw the installation of the Knife Angel, an almost-eight-metre sculpture made of seized and confiscated knives.

The piece of art hoped to make visitors think about the ravaging effects of knife crime.

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