CREATIVE Vale residents are being reminded they still have time to come up with a design for a Covid-19 memorial which will be in place for generations to come.
Westerleigh Group, the UK’s largest independent owner of crematoria and cemeteries, is creating memorial gardens at more than 30 of its sites nationwide including the Vale Crematorium in Fladbury.
The centre-piece of each garden is a large obelisk which Westerleigh is inviting local people to contribute to.
An open invitation is being extended to people of all ages and from all walks of life to submit designs to be etched onto the stone monuments in each of the gardens.
The managers of Westerleigh’s crematoria all over the country have sent personal invitations to schools, art clubs, youth projects, care homes, hospitals and many other organisations in their local area, asking them to come up with ideas.
But there is an open invitation to absolutely anyone to submit a design idea.
The competition was launched last month and a number of designs have already been submitted but with a closing date of October 31, there is still time for more people to submit their ideas.
The Westerleigh Group is split into seven regions throughout the UK and wants a different design for each of those regions.
Roger Mclaughlan, Chief Executive Officer of the Westerleigh Group, said: “This means that people could incorporate local landmarks, or something else that is representative of their region and community into their designs.
“When we decided to create these gardens, we said we wanted to provide permanent, tranquil places for people to visit to remember loved ones who died during the pandemic and also to remember and reflect on those who have sacrificed so much to help others who were sick, isolated or vulnerable.
The obelisks are made of polished black granite, and the seven winning designs will be individually carved into them by Westerleigh’s own highly-skilled stonemasons.
Every single obelisk nationwide will feature an inscription, which reads: “This memorial has been placed to remember and recognise the lives and efforts of all affected by the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020.”
Plaques featuring the names of the winning designers will be attached to the memorials, so the winning designers will see their names go down in history.
Designs should be no bigger than A4 in size and must be submitted by Saturday October 31. After the closing date, a shortlist of final entries for each region will be drawn up and winners will be chosen.
Work is expected to start on the stone memorials later this year, with garden landscaping taking place in early Spring 2021, before opening shortly afterwards.
Entries can be emailed to: [email protected] or posted to: Design Competition, Westerleigh Group, Chapel View, Westerleigh Road, Westerleigh, Bristol BS37 8QP.
Entrants should include their name, address and a telephone number so that they can easily be contacted if their design is chosen.
