Ribbon artwork is a beacon of church's resilience
Churches worldwide faced an unknown crisis when lockdown hit, with congregations unable to meet and support each other as a community.
But for Reverend Marg Mattocks, of St Nicholas Church in Codsall, it was a problem she was determined to face head-on.
She said: "Churches had to figure out: how can we still be a church when we're shut? How can we still give support?"
While people couldn't come into the church, Marg knew they could still provide a healing place for the community.
For the last two Christmases, St Nicholas Church has set up an outdoor Christmas Tree and invited people to put a ribbon on it to remember a loved one or mark an important celebration.
They did the same at Easter with a ribbon arch, and now Reverend Mattocks has decided to encourage the congregation to weave the ribbons into a community art installation, which she hopes will be ready for Easter.
She said: "Lockdown has created such a lot of stories and I think it's important people tell them to get them out of their system.
"The ribbons caught people's imagination and each one had such a personal and unique story – that was amazing."
While some people marked their losses on the tree, others commemorated their celebrations.
One family lost four members in one year to circumstances not involved with Covid-19, and they marked their grief on the tree.
And one woman whose beloved dog had just died placed its lead on the tree instead of a ribbon.
But there was still joy to be found at Christmas, as one couple celebrated their first wedding anniversary with a ribbon on the tree.
The reverend, who comes from Wednesfield, said: "The whole spectrum of community life settled on that tree."
Over March, people are invited to weave the ribbons into squares or crosses to make a community art installation for the church.
St Nicholas Church will be open from 3-4pm on Wednesdays so people can weave ribbons together.
The church hopes events like these can continue on past the pandemic, with some one-off occasions now becoming weekly affairs.
The 60-year-old reverend added: "We did a food bank collection for Harvest Festival but people got so passionate and wanted to carry it on, so now we do it every week.
"At the onset of the pandemic we had to forge a new way of being as a church. Although the door was shut, we could keep the church alive."
