Commemorative stones on sale, as 'baby garden' goes ahead
Emma Oram is leading the
campaign
by Tim Collins
Commemorative stones
are now on sale, after the green light was given to create a garden
to memorialise babies who have died.
Ashford Borough Council (ABC) has
agreed to plans to provide a place where parents and relatives can
remember babies who died during or shortly after birth.
The “baby garden”, to be built at
the site of the existing memorial garden off Church Road in the
town centre, will feature colourful flower beds, a small grass area
and two specially-commissioned benches featuring a butterfly and a
dove.
It will also incorporate special
stones recording the names of babies who have died and, where
families wish, the date on which they lost their lives.
These stones will encircle a
central mosaic design, featuring the teardrop logo of national
charity Stillbirth And Neonatal Deaths (SANDS), which is behind the
project.
People from across the borough will
have a chance to help create the mosaic at a workshop being held at
the Ashford Gateway in late February.
Emma Oram, (pictured top) who lost
her baby Liam in 2004, is leading the Chartham branch of the
charity, who have raised over £23,000 of the £28,000 needed to make
the project a reality.
Emma, 28, said: “In years gone by,
often babies were just taken away from their mothers and sometimes
parents were not even told whether they had been boys or girls, nor
where they had been buried.
“Thankfully, times have changed
now, and at least everyone can share this special place, and have a
name stone, right in the centre of Ashford, even when their babies
died many years ago.
“Having somewhere special like the
garden will be so important to everyone who has lost a baby. It
will be wonderful to see our babies’ names recorded there
forever.”
Work on the site will start in
March, to be completed by the early summer.
To order a name stone for a one-off
cost of £40, email ashfordbabygarden@hotmail.co.uk
or call Chris Twydell on 07912771135.
08/01/13
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