When I was elected Mayor of Kenilworth last May I expressed the hope that very soon, and definitely during my Mayoral year, our government would negotiate the release of the British citizen Nazanin Zaghari Ratcliffe who has now been held hostage in Iran for more than 1,750 days.

Nazanin has close family relatives living not far from Kenilworth and she longs to come back to the UK, to be with her husband and young daughter.

Now, with less than three months left of my Mayoral year and after Nazanin has been held in Iran for nearly five years, she still has not been released and is still isolated in Tehran.

Since March last year many people in Kenilworth have been isolated too, as they've sought to avoid coming into contact with the Covid-19 virus. Life is very difficult staring at the same four walls all day, not being able to go outside freely or to meet and hug family and friends.

The mental stress is huge, just as it is for families struggling at home with the uncertainty of work and having to homeschool children with online learning.

Thankfully in the past two weeks our government has announced a roadmap to end our isolation, even though it will be at least four months before there can be a return to how life was before Covid.

We should be under no doubt that for many businesses, schools and homes it will not be an immediate return to life being better.

The scars run deep.

And there are some things about life in Kenilworth during the pandemic that we should find a way to reflect on and to commemorate, especially how the community has come together.

For Nazanin her prison sentence and so her isolation technically ends in March. But as yet, sadly, there is no announcement from either our government or the Iranians about arrangements for her to return home to the UK to her husband and daughter.

Just as with Covid for us, if Nazanin is able to come home, her return to family life will doubtless be full of many challenges, as well as much joy.

So I pay tribute this month to all those people who campaign for Nazanin's release, just as I say also a huge thank you – as we approach the first anniversary of Covid in our community - to everyone in Kenilworth, frontline workers and volunteers especially, who continue to help us through the pandemic.