My last editorial for the Journal seems a long time ago. Much has happened since, and we have paid tribute to John Barker, formerly editor of this journal, who very sadly passed away after contracting Covid-19. Losing one of our own to the ongoing pandemic brings the disease into sharp focus, and indeed most people in the UK and around the world now know someone who has suffered from the disease, or sadly lost their life, in the past 12 months. In the UK, we have lost over 120000 lives, our children have been away from school for at least 6 months, and many have lost their jobs.