QUIET SPOT AT CHURCH TO REMEMBER LOVED ONES
A CHURCH in South Derbyshire is offering people a place to remember loved ones or friends who have died as Covid restrictions on events such as funerals continue to hamper opportunities to grieve.
From today, St Wystan’s Church in Repton is setting aside an area near the lychgate in its churchyard as a place of memorial.
The vicar, the Rev Martin Flowerdew, believes with the approach of Mothering Sunday and Easter, such a facility is needed.
Writing in The Village News about the memorial area, he said: “A low fence will enclose an area of grass and the first yew tree. On one side there will be a cross made out of the Christmas trees used in church this last December.
“Anyone is most welcome to come and place flowers, photos, momentos, or any item with special significance on the ground either under the tree or around the cross. If you wish to hang a prayer, photo, ribbon or lightweight momento from the tree you are most welcome to do so. [We know that churchyard regulations don’t allow such things but this is a special one off event in a defined area so we are turning a blind eye for seven weeks].
“All we ask is that you don’t leave anything made from glass, and please, do not hang things from the tree over the path. We reserve the right to remove items that are not ‘safe.’”
The vicar’s inititative won the support of mother of three Bonnie Evans, who grew up in Repton and who visited the church at the weekend to leave a floral arrangement on the grave of her mother, Gillian, who died in 1986, aged 47.
Bonnie, who now lives in Derby, said it was important to provide a place for people to remember loved ones at times such as Mother’s Day. In a separate initiative, families can remember loved ones at a memorial garden at St Giles Hospice in Whittington, near Lichfield, this spring.
Relatives and friends are invited to dedicate a Celebrate Lives Lived orange gerbera peg, which is personalised with the name of their loved one, in return for a donation to help fund the work of St Giles.
The pegs will then be placed in one of the memorial gardens created at the hospice sites in Whittington and Sutton Coldfield.
For 2021, St Giles has also set up a virtual garden display for people who are self-isolating or who do not wish to visit in person, with the name of their loved one displayed next to an orange peg in an online memorial display.
Chloe Herbert, head of fundraising, said: “Celebrate Lives Lived offers a special way to remember your loved ones each spring.
“The orange gerbera represents ‘sunshine of life,’ which makes it a beautiful, fitting tribute to the memory of your loved one.”