Annemarie Plas’s initiative was mentioned by the Queen and taken up by Victoria Beckham. She was even invited to clap with Boris Johnson outside No 10
In those strange, unending days of the spring lockdown, the thing that marked time for many of us in the UK was the weekly round of applause for NHS staff and other care and key workers. Every Thursday at 8pm, people stood on doorsteps or leaned out of windows, clapping (or whooping or bashing pans) in appreciation of those who were working in difficult circumstances. The first, on 26 March, took place three days after Boris Johnson addressed the nation, and knowing it was happening across the country created a rare feeling of unity, as well as introducing many of us to our neighbours for the first time.
Similar events had taken place in Europe; Annemarie Plas had seen them on a Dutch WhatsApp group she belonged to. She thought it would be good to do something similar in the UK, and created an image that she posted on social media. It was quickly shared. “Within a couple of hours, it was on Victoria Beckham’s page,” she says. “It was quite surreal watching it spread.”