Staff at Caithness General Hospital were given a boost in April when Victoria Beckham, the fashion designer and former Spice Girl, called to speak to them on FaceTime.
If 2020 will go down in history as the year of Covid, it can only be hoped that 2021 will be the year of recovery and a gradual return to normality.
The rapid spread of a new strain of the virus has caused growing concern in recent weeks, and led to the Highlands and the rest of mainland Scotland being placed in level four restrictions from Boxing Day onwards with many business premises being forced to close for the time being. With the further roll-out of Covid-19 vaccines over the coming months, the prospect of a better and safer future will slowly begin to emerge – although for the time being it is vital for public safety that we all keep following all the rules.
Gallery1
1 / 74Caithness civic leader Willie Mackay and his wife Glynis were among the many Caithness folk who joined in the first round of national applause for NHS staff and carers.
2 / 74Raymond Bremner took this selfie with Chris Aitken at the riverside car park in Wick. The councillor delivered acetate sheets to Chris to help with the 3D printing.
3 / 74Just some of the many PPE face guards made by Chris Aitken and his team.
4 / 74Colin Thain with his 3D printing equipment.
5 / 74Some of the Care at Home team at the Pulteney Centre in Wick.
6 / 74Davy Crowden (left) hands over gifts to Saulius Kazakauskas on behalf of Wick and District Darts League. Saulius was part of the Caithness 3D printing team making PPE for frontline workers.
7 / 74Getting ready to set off with a delivery of hot meals from the Pulteney Centre were volunteer Mark Munro and his boys – Jack Munro, along with Kyle and Alex Shearer.
8 / 74Liz Bamber from Olrig making scrubs for the NHS.
9 / 74Lindsay Broomfield co-ordinated efforts to make scrubs for the NHS in Caithness and Sutherland.
10 / 74BT worker Ryan Watt delivering a box of goodies to Seaview House care home in Wick.
11 / 74Derek Bremner of Caithness Health Action Team handing Samsung tablet computers to charge nurse Agnes Newton and rural general hospital manager Pam Garbe at Caithness General Hospital in April.
12 / 74Barbara Nicol from the League of Friends of Caithness General Hospital and Bill Fernie of Caithness Health Action Team presenting Samsung tablet computers to Pam Garbe, rural general hospital manager for the north area, and representative staff from each ward.
13 / 74Ron Gunn of Caithness Health Action Team about to deliver Samsung tablet computers to the Dunbar Hospital in Thurso.
14 / 74Lizi Blackwood from Thurso, a development manager at Highlands and Islands Enterprise, was using her volunteer days to support efforts to make thousands of face guards for key workers in the region.
15 / 74Local volunteers observe social distancing as they queue outside the Old Smiddy Inn for meals they deliver around homes in the Thrumster area in April. Picture: Raymond Bremner
16 / 74Connor MacLeod with team members from Wick-based Caithness Klics who were working around the clock to ensure local young carers got the support they needed.
17 / 74Mackays Hotel owners Murray and Ellie Lamont out and about in Wick doing meals-on-wheels deliveries. Picture: DGS
18 / 74A photo collage created by Lisa Poulsen of some of the participants who took part in the first virtual Caithness market.
19 / 74Staff at Wick's Pulteney House care home were kitted out with hand-made scrubs after a special delivery from Argyll all the way to Caithness. Eighty of the brightly coloured scrub sets, created by an Ardrishaig-based team of sewing enthusiasts, were handed over to at the end of an epic journey of more than 240 miles by road and rail.
20 / 74Waiting patiently for the hairdresser to open – a Wick Gala scarecrow competition entry made by Jennifer Cowie. Picture: DGS
21 / 74Prince Charles, the Duke of Rothesay, visited staff outside Caithness General Hospital at the end of July. Picture: Robert MacDonald / Northern Studios
22 / 74During the tourist season there were reports of irresponsible behaviour by some people, such as a man who was photographed climbing up the 12th-century cliff-top ruin of the Castle of Old Wick. Picture: Derek Bremner
23 / 74In October two Caithness care homes each created a visiting suite to allow residents to spend time with their loved ones indoors while complying with all the Covid-19 guidance. It meant residents at Seaview House in Wick (pictured) and Pentland View in Thurso could see their friends and family at close quarters through a Perspex divider while chatting on an intercom system in a warm and comfortable setting.
24 / 74Wreaths were laid at the Wick war memorial two hours earlier than the usual 11am ceremony on Remembrance Sunday, with none of the usual crowds attending. Picture: Alan McGee
25 / 74A socially distanced scene in St Peter's and St Andrew's Church in Thurso on Remembrance Sunday with the Rev David Malcolm and the colour party, Martin Sutherland and Don Logie. Picture: Mel Roger
26 / 74Donald Macleod, wearing a mask, laid the wreath for The Highlanders Association at Thurso war memorial on Remembrance Sunday 2020. Picture: Mel Roger
27 / 74Volunteers from Thurso Grows selling produce at the gardens in Sir John's Square in August. The gardens are usually adorned with floral displays but that could not happen due to the pandemic, so Thurso Community Development Trust came up with the idea of growing vegetables there instead. Picture: DGS
28 / 74Alan Paul demonstrating a temperature check on fellow steward Willie Wydmuch ahead of the Wick Academy v Buckie Thistle match at Harmsworth Park in November as Highland League football returned with limited numbers of socially distanced spectators.
29 / 74Online pantomimes were financed by Rotary Club of Thurso for children in seven primary schools, including these P6/7 pupils at Castletown.
30 / 74Dounreay provided portable welfare facilities to various GP practices in the county. The portable units were obtained from North Coast Entertainments and Ord Industrial after local GP practices identified a need for additional facilities to provide segregation of patients.
31 / 74High Life Highland staff volunteers Jordan Bain (left) and Jamie Mackinnon helping out with deliveries from the Caithness Foodbank centre in Thurso in April.
32 / 74Chloe Mackay and Ryan Edwards from High Life Highland at Caithness Foodbank in Wick, helping with organising food parcels and then delivering them in the community during the early stages of lockdown. Looking on is Caithness Foodbank chairman Grant Ramsay.
33 / 74Direction arrows and a table with cleaning equipment for trolleys and baskets at the entrance to the Tesco store in Wick. Picture: DGS
34 / 74Children's rainbow brought a splash of colour to windows across the county. Many of the drawings were accompanied by uplifting messages.
35 / 74Rainbow drawings at the Riverside care home in Wick.
36 / 74Staff at the Princes Street Surgery in Thurso demonstrating use of their personal protective equipment in April.
37 / 74Noss Head, near Wick – one of 15 car parks across the north Highlands that were closed by Highland Council ahead of Easter weekend.
38 / 74John O’Groats Development Trust closed off the end-of-the-road car park – on the North Coast 500 route – amid concerns that some people may be tempted to ignore government guidance and travel during the Easter weekend.
39 / 74Lesley-Ann Sutherland, of the fashion business Coastline, in April with a hamper she raffled off for Caithness Foodbank.
40 / 74Computing science teacher Chris Aitken and a team of helpers created personal protective equipment to protect frontline health workers.
41 / 74Rehan Amin from KeyStore in Wick setting off to do home deliveries of essential goods in March. Picture: DGS
42 / 74Caithness General Hospital in an April snow shower. Picture: DGS
43 / 74Thurso Community Development Trust volunteer Bobby McRoberts on his way to deliver an Easter basket as a treat for a local family.
44 / 74Saulius Kazakauskas used his skills to create protective gear as part of Chris Aitken's voluntary team.
45 / 74Sergio Sanz, a member of the 3D printing group making PPE along with Chris Aitken and others.
46 / 74Graham Ball (rear) and his son Alan were members of the 3D printing group making protective equipment for NHS staff and carers.
47 / 74Ten-year-old Alexander Mackay dressed up as the Easter Bunny as he set out to deliver eggs in Keiss. Picture Andrew Mackay
48 / 74Ten-year-old Andrew Sinclair supported the Clap for Our Carers campaign by playing the bagpipes at his home in Latheron.
49 / 74Ice and Fire Distillery at Latheronwheel changed its normal operations to focus on creating hand sanitiser.
50 / 74Alcohol-based hand sanitiser has been provided to local medical practices by Dunnet Bay Distillers.
51 / 74Lynda Moran, one of the team of cooks preparing meals as part of the Thurso Community Development Trust coronavirus response.
52 / 74John Deighan, branch secretary of Thurso and Wick Trade Union Council, marking International Workers' Memorial Day by paying tribute to NHS staff and frontline workers who had lost their lives in the fight against Covid-19.
53 / 74Books, jigsaw puzzles and craft activities are included in wellbeing packs from Thurso Community Development Trust.
54 / 74Thurso Community Development Trust community support volunteer Mel Hayes and Kelsey Johnson (Red Cross).
55 / 74Thurso Youth Club employee Richard Hogg and community support volunteer delivery driver Bobby McRoberts making deliveries for Thurso Community Development Trust.
56 / 74Youth football club Caithness United devised its own series of online coaching videos to ensure players kept up their fitness levels and skills at home while lockdown restrictions mean they couldn't meet up for regular training. This was Joshua Hughes doing an exercise on dribbling and close control.
57 / 74Social distancing guidelines marked out on the pavement in Wick town centre.
58 / 74Morag Mackenzie outside her café in High Street, Wick, in June. She was providing a takeaway service, having been closed for a number of weeks during lockdown. Picture: DGS
59 / 74Staff wearing protective gear at McAllan's men's clothes shop in High Street, Wick. Picture: DGS
60 / 74The owner of Angela's hair salon in Wick, Angela Sutherland, with regular customer Jenny Myers after the business reopened in July. Pictures: DGS
61 / 74Alyn Gunn, head of coaching at Thurso Football Academy, was named as a Coaching, Officiating and Volunteering (COV) champion in a national award scheme recognising his voluntary efforts during the pandemic. Picture: Peter Jolly / Northpix
62 / 74Helen and Alan McCarthy in their garden in Watten with dachshunds Fern and Rowan. In an interview August, Helen gave a stark account of her slow and painful recovery from coronavirus. Picture: Alan Hendry
63 / 74Wick hotelier Mervyn Hill serving drinks in the Nethercliffe's garden area to customers William and Adelaine Munro in October. Pubs and restaurants in the north felt they should not be treat like the rest of Scotland after new restrictions were placed on hospitality because of rising coronavirus figures in the central belt. Picture: Alan Hendry
64 / 74Richard Hogg assisting with Thurso Community Development Trust's meals service.
65 / 74Assistant befriending co-ordinator Elspeth Manson speaking remotely to senior co-ordinator Angie House in October after Befriending Caithness had been praised for its innovative response to the pandemic.
66 / 74Alan Sinclair, Pentland Parish interim moderator, chairing a weekly catch-up on Zoom after local church services went online.
67 / 74The Rotary Club of Thurso organised a scarecrow guy competition as an alternative to its annual fireworks display. Claire Hughes was the adult section winner with this design inspired by the Disney/Pixar film Up.
68 / 74Despite the Covid restrictions, the FarNorth Dancefest was a success thanks to a Zoom link-up across the Highlands and the awarding of dance medals at a specially adapted ceremony. There was even an appearance from BBC Strictly's Craig Revel Horwood, albeit as a cardboard cut-out. From left: Harriette Tueween, Lesley Gunn, Carys Miller, Guy and Jennifer Gordon.
69 / 74One of the many nostalgic memories captured in the specially commissioned festive art film, Caithness Through Your Windscreen, shown in drive-in cinema style at Lyth Arts Centre with footage projected onto the LAC Artists' House. Picture: DGS
70 / 74Wick man Eric Farquhar has been hosting a regular series of virtual ceilidhs for Caithness Macular Society Support Group, with people joining in from as far away as Shetland and Skye. Picture: Willie Mackay
71 / 74The East Caithness Community Facility car park in Wick was the venue for drive-in carols on the Sunday before Christmas. Picture: Susan Barrie
72 / 74Santa and his helpers delivered gifts to young children across the Melvich area in the week before Christmas. The event was organised by Melvich Christmas Tree Committee an alternative to the usual festive party, which could not go ahead because of the pandemic.
73 / 74Howard and Christine Stone, from the Castletown Resilience Group, delivered Christmas meals to local people.
74 / 74Thurso Community Development Trust's Joan Lawrie and Jodi Budge dishing up a Christmas meal.
Our gallery includes just some of the pictures that helped define 2020 in Caithness and north Sutherland – from the first days of lockdown in the spring, when Clap for Carers became a weekly fixture and rainbow drawings paid tribute to frontline health workers, through a very different summer tourist season to autumn and winter events from Remembrance Sunday to Christmas activities that had to be adapted to fit in with the social distancing guidelines.
Throughout all the worries and uncertainties, there was a continuous underlying theme of kindness and compassion as voluntary groups, businesses and individuals rose to the challenge of helping those most in need in all sorts of practical ways – demonstrating the kind of community spirit and resilience that will stand us in good stead as this new year unfolds and we look ahead, with cautious optimism, to better times to come.
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