Who founded the UK #clapforourcarers campaign during the COVID-19 pandemic?

Annemarie Plas founded the UK #clapforourcarers campaign during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Plas was a Dutch woman living in London who adapted a similar public show of appreciation she had seen in the Netherlands. Her UK campaign encouraged people to applaud from doorways, windows and gardens in support of National Health Service staff and other key workers facing the pandemic.

The first UK event took place on March 26, 2020. The idea quickly became a highly visible weekly ritual, with millions of people participating through clapping, cheering, ringing bells, banging pots and pans, or making music. Public figures and landmarks also joined the campaign, helping it become a major feature of Britain’s early lockdown period.

The campaign was not solely an NHS tribute in every later description: its focus expanded to include delivery workers, teachers, emergency personnel, shop staff and other essential workers. Similar applause events existed elsewhere, so Plas is credited with founding or bringing the UK version to prominence rather than inventing the worldwide idea.