The Bradford district is joining with the nation to say thank you and take a moment of reflection as part of National Thank You Day (Sunday 4 July) as we start to come out of the other side of the pandemic.

Bradford Council is creating a visual impact across the district with waves of white roses in different crafted forms, ranging from knitted waves in the city centre to painted pebbles in our green spaces and a walk of roses in the streets. Over a thousand white roses will be handed out across the district by the Lord Mayor of Bradford Councillor Shabir Hussain, the Mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin, the Leader of Bradford Council Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe and senior officers from the council across the district to key workers and members of the public to thank them for all that they have been doing help get through the pandemic.

The Council wants to thank everyone from the front line workers, to the neighbours who have offered a chat at the garden gate, or supermarket workers that worked to keep the home deliveries coming.

The Council is asking residents across the district to show their appreciation to those who have helped everyone though this incredibly difficult time. They can do this by using the rose to take a moment of reflection and thanks, thinking about what is important as we move in to the summer.

Bradford Council is encouraging the public to join in and display their version of white roses in their gardens and windows with their own messages. The bigger the better, let’s really show our community spirit through the iconic white rose of Yorkshire.

Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe, Leader of Bradford Council wants to highlight the overwhelming gratitude the district has for the people who live and work here. “Being part of this community in the last 16 months has been humbling, I have seen people stepping forward in their jobs to support colleagues and other departments doing things they never expected to do. I have also seen members of the public making huge sacrifices that we never expected them to make, coming together to support each other has been important and it’s made me very proud to be from Bradford. This is a great opportunity to say thank you to those people who have helped us through this very difficult time”

Working with local artist Xanthe Bonsall, Bradford Council has created a visual representation of the message of thanks, which can be adapted to reflect a personal or community message.

There will be opportunities for reflection at different points during the day on 4 July in different places across the district. White roses in different forms will be given to members of the public to take home as a keepsake of the day.

Bringing the communities together across the district is more important than ever as we move in to the summer and start to return to normal. Children (and adults) are being encouraged to help create pebble art using white roses and the message: ‘Thank You Bradford’ displaying them in public and private spaces. This is another way of creating visual places for people to reflect and give thanks. The logo can be interpreted and used as window art at home or at work to show your support for thank you day.

A wave of handcrafted roses will appear in the city centre, each one representing a sacrifice made in the district. These will then be passed to care homes, members of the public and key workers to thank everyone for their dedication to the community over the last 16 months. Keeping with the theme, 1,000 real roses will be handed out across the district each one with a message for the recipient, thanking them and encouraging them to thank others for their sacrifices.

Kersten England, Chief Executive, Bradford Council said “Taking a moment to reflect and offer thanks for how far we’ve come and the sacrifices and efforts so many people have made is really important as we start to move back in to a more normal way of life. Yorkshire is known for its community spirit so we wanted to use a version of the white rose of Yorkshire as a symbol to show how thankful we are for communities and for the future and the changes that this summer will bring. While we are looking forward to enjoying more freedom this summer, the sacrifices and efforts of the community are what has made this possible. Let’s take this opportunity to say thank you.”

Cllr Shabir Hussain, the Lord Mayor of Bradford said “A day of thanks is a lovely idea, it’s been such a difficult time for so many people. Everyone has had to make some sort of sacrifice and I think taking time to think about that before we move forward is important. I am sure people will appreciate that people are giving thanks, I hope I see the white roses popping up everywhere and brighten up our district.”

If you want to get involved you can use the campaign logo to create your own moment of thanks using words that express what you want to say. The outline is available on the council social media channels or you can create your own rose of thanks.