FMT in partnership with The Global Institute For Tomorrow (GIFT) brings you Covid-19 “healers” from the United Kingdom.

When theatres and music venues closed in March, soprano Lucy Crowe, her musician husband Joe Walters, and their children decided to share their talents with their local community.

They held a short concert with opera, keyboard and trumpet performances from their front porch in East London, and were met with cheers and applause from open windows and front gardens.

They realised the positive effect they were having on their neighbours and chose to continue with daily concerts.

In the darkest months of lockdown, neighbours said the concerts became the most important part of their day. Lucy and Joe’s music, kindness and commitment were brightening their lives.

The concerts brought the community together, with neighbours meeting each other for the first time. Their Sunday concerts even began to bring people in from the wider community.

New friendships were made, even as everyone complied with social distancing.

Lucy and Joe were also asked to perform at the nearby Whipps Cross Hospital. Patients are brought out into the gardens to enjoy the performance.

Mike Edwards is an amateur photographer, having lived his whole life in the East London area of the UK. He enjoys documenting local history and, in 2015, self-published ‘Shelf Life E11 E4 E17’, a book of stories and images of local tradespeople, which sold out.

‘The Other Hundred Healers’ is an initiative by the non-profit organisation GIFT. The 240-page, full-colour, hardcover book can be purchased here at US$40 per copy for a minimum order of 20 copies.