‘I lost a brother and sister to Covid… I’m proud to back this campaign’: LORD SUGAR recalls double family tragedy as he donates six-figure sum to memorial to pandemic victims
- Lord Sugar lost two of his siblings, both in their eighties, to coronavirus
- He had flown to Australia to film the local version of The Apprentice
- Strict laws meant it was impossible for him to return for siblings’ funerals
- He has pledged a 6-figure sum to Mail’s campaign to build memorial for victims
Shortly after Christmas, I undertook the poignant duty of reciting the Kaddish at the funeral of my beloved older sister Shirley.
Sadly, it was the second time in only two weeks that I had read out the traditional Jewish mourning prayer, having lost my brother Derek just a fortnight earlier.
Both in their eighties, my siblings had suffered ill health for some time: but it was the coronavirus that had ultimately taken them from us, leaving their loved ones – me, my surviving sister Daphne, our children and Derek and Shirley’s many friends – to grieve their loss.
My own grief was compounded by distance. In September, I had flown to Australia to film the local version of The Apprentice, and the strict Covid laws Down Under meant it was impossible for me to return home for my siblings’ funerals.
I was grateful that, thanks to modern technology, I could join the small, socially distanced ceremonies from the other side of the world.
These experiences, I know, have been shared by so many across the country in the past 15 months, of all backgrounds and all ages.
Fame, fortune and status have been no barrier to this terrible virus or to the many tens of thousands of lives it has claimed. Surely there are few families left in Britain who have not been affected.
Sir Alan Sugar (pictured left, with his wife Ann) has pledged a six-figure sum to the Mail’s campaign to build a memorial for victims of coronavirus after he lost two of his siblings, both in their eighties, to the virus
It’s one reason that I have decided to donate a six-figure sum to the Mail’s wonderful and heartfelt campaign to build a lasting national memorial to the country’s Covid victims at the entrance to St Paul’s Cathedral.
The campaign struck a chord with me the moment I learned about it.
Private grief is one thing. But we will all need, as a nation, somewhere to remember the devastating toll wrought by the pandemic.
It has to be the right sort of memorial: a suitably sombre but welcoming focal point for our collective grief, one that both honours our dead and provides a place of pilgrimage and remembrance for all races and faiths to come, mourn and reflect.
The fitting portico planned for the entrance of St Paul’s is just such a memorial.
For while the cathedral may be a historic symbol of Christian worship, it also serves a twin duty as a national monument and place of civic pride which has long welcomed all through its doors and which has long stood as a symbol of British resilience, perhaps most memorably when it stood undaunted as Nazi bombs hammered London during the Blitz.
While I may be of Jewish heritage, I believe remembrance has no barriers. And today, I am struck by how rapidly Covid exerted its deadly grip.
I was on business in America when, early last year, reports of a lethal new virus in the Far East started to emerge.
They were reports I took seriously. I quickly closed my offices, and, stuck in the US, kept in regular touch with my family, thinking especially of Shirley, my 88-year-old bubbly elder sister, who lived in a care home, and 86-year-old twins Daphne and Derek. At 74, I’m the youngest of the Sugar siblings by some years, with a longstanding family joke that my appearance in the world was the result of an inebriated evening shortly after the war.
Because he was in Australia filming for The Apprentice, the businessman couldn’t make it back to the UK for Shirley (front row, far left) and Derek’s (back row, second from right) funerals, instead having to join the ceremonies virtually
The age gap meant that as my boyhood unfolded, my older sisters and brother were embarking on their adult lives. But while we all forged our own paths, we remained a close family and shared many happy times together. To this day, I still smile when I recall how thrilled Derek, a passionate Tottenham Hotspur supporter, was when he learned I had bought the club in 1991.
Sadly, both Shirley and Derek suffered ill health in later years, but Derek had remained at home until, in early December, he contracted Covid and had to be hospitalised, passing away a few days later.
Shirley was also admitted to hospital a few days later after catching the disease, dying shortly after Christmas.
Their loss has been felt keenly by all the family.
Many of you reading this will have experienced something similar in recent months: I know only too well that my family’s sad experiences are far from unusual.
After sharing the loss of my siblings on social media, I received an outpouring of sympathy from people who got in touch to offer their condolences, many of whom had their own heartbreaking stories to share.
Moreover, those stories are far from over: while Britain’s marvellous vaccine programme means the country may soon be returning to normality, there is no room for complacency, as the latest catastrophic images from India remind us.
Derek (pictured centre with twin Daphne, right), who suffered from ill health, had remained at home until, in early December, he contracted Covid and had to be hospitalised, passing away a few days later (pictured left: Lord Sugar)
In the US, where I travelled on business in March, my wife and I have been horrified by the casual way so many have been treating the virus. I am certainly thankful I have received my vaccine.
We are unlikely to know the true extent of Covid’s devastating legacy for many years – not just the losses to the virus itself, but the toll it took on livelihoods and our mental health.
It is another reason why a national memorial is so essential, straddling the present day and the future.
In only a few days, you, the Mail’s readers, have already been extraordinarily generous with your donations – and I urge anyone who can afford it to give whatever they can to this vital campaign.
I am honoured to make my own contribution, which I give not just in memory of my dear siblings Derek and Shirley, but also to help commemorate of all those who have lost their lives in this terrible pandemic.
The memorial, of course, will not bring our loved ones back. But my hope is that it will be a great and lasting comfort to all of us who remain.
Lord Sugar is a British businessman and crossbench peer
Lord Sugar says he is ‘honoured’ to make his own contribution to the campaign, which he gives in memory of his siblings Derek and Shirley and also to commemorate all of those who have lost their lives during the pandemic (pictured: Shirley, the taller girl, with twins Daphne and Derek)
He said the age gap meant when he was a boy his elder siblings were embarking on their adult lives (pictured: Lord Sugar, right, as a page boy at Derek’s wedding)
Sugar’s huge boost for memorial: Businessman hit by double family tragedy donates a six-figure sum to help remember victims of pandemic
By Inderdeep Bains for the Daily Mail
Lord Sugar has generously pledged a six-figure sum to the Remember Me campaign to create a national memorial to Covid victims.
The businessman – who lost a brother and sister to the virus –said he was honoured to ‘wholeheartedly’ support the drive to help bereaved families remember their loved ones with a tribute at St Paul’s Cathedral.
His endorsement comes as the campaign received another boost from another donor – who wishes to remain anonymous – who gifted £25,000 to St Paul’s yesterday.
The staggering donations, as well as the funds already donated by Mail readers, mean that more than £250,000 has been raised for the memorial since the Mail’s campaign was launched at the weekend.
Together with money donated to St Paul’s, it means that almost £700,000 has now been pledged toward the £2.3million cost of the memorial.
Last night Lord Sugar, who lost brother Derek and sister Shirley within weeks of each other, said it was important to remember all of the victims with a ‘fitting and lasting memorial’.
He said: ‘Coronavirus has taken a terrible toll on families across the UK, and I wholeheartedly support this campaign for what will be a fitting and lasting memorial within St Paul’s Cathedral. ‘So many families including my own have lost a loved one, we must remember them. It is right that we come together to honour the memories of all those we have sadly lost and I am honoured to support such an important campaign.’
The Apprentice star, who is the youngest of four siblings, revealed at the end of December that his 88-year-old sister had died after contracting Covid a fortnight after his brother Derek, 86. Paying tribute on social media, Lord Sugar said of his sister: ‘She had been sick for a while but I guess Covid got her in the end to join our brother Derek, who passed two weeks ago. RIP Shirl.’
The entrepreneur had earlier announced Derek, who had underlying conditions, died on December 15, describing it as ‘a sad day for us all in the family’. Posting on Twitter, Lord Sugar said: ‘Today I lost my long-suffering brother Derek, another victim of Covid which added to his underlying health issues.
‘He was a lifetime, passionate Spurs supporter. I never forget my sister-in-law joking with me, thanking me for buying him the club.’ Lord Sugar’s siblings are just two of the UK’s 127,500 Covid victims.
It is hoped the memorial, which is open to those of any faith or none, will be completed by March next year.
For the memorial, a newly built wooden portico will be set in the north transept of the cathedral, away from the busier main doors. Entrance will be free. It will sit on the site of an earlier hallway which was destroyed by a Luftwaffe bomb in 1941
It includes a stunning commemorative space which features a grand oak portico engraved with the words ‘Remember Me’. Through the portico, a chapel inside the cathedral will house screens displaying a virtual book of remembrance, launched last year to immortalise the names, pictures and stories of those lost.
The Mail’s campaign has already been endorsed by Prince Charles, Boris Johnson and leaders of the Catholic, Muslim and Jewish faiths as well as grieving families.
More than 3,500 people have so far donated online since the Mail launched its campaign. Tributes to more than one thousand victims have been added to the virtual book of remembrance by grieving relatives this week alone.
The book, which was launched online last year, now contains the poignant stories of more than 8,300 people who lost their lives directly or indirectly to Covid. Among those to add a tribute to the book as well as show her support on the cathedral’s Crowdfunder page was Rhona Moffat, who wrote: ‘My mum passed away May 20 with Covid and I have her photo and message in St Paul’s digital memory book.
‘To have a permanent memorial in St Paul’s Cathedral is a wonderful idea.’
It is free to add an entry for a loved one to the virtual book of remembrance while the physical memorial, which will display the tributes on screens, will also be free to enter. Readers can still receive one of the Mail’s limited edition Remember Me candles by donating at least £25. More than 2,380 of the 5,000 bespoke candles have already been claimed.
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