Heritage Wood Visitors Encouraged To Take Time to Remember

Heritage Wood Visitors Encouraged To Take Time to Remember

Family-owned Wathall’s funeral directors have sponsored a sturdy oak table and bench in the heart of Heritage Wood at Ednaston for visitors to enjoy a quiet moment of contemplation.

The table and bench has been engraved with a grief quote ‘Those who have no time to mourn have no time to mend.  It has been installed in the woodland clearing alongside the six foot stainless steel dandelion sculpture which Wathall’s commissioned two years ago thanks to a donation from the Ashbourne Shrovetide committee.

Both, as well as two benches erected at Poppy Wood near Melbourne, are dedicated to members of the Dandelions Bereavement Support Groups which Wathall’s run in Derby and Ashbourne to help local people come to terms with their grief.

Wathall’s bereavement support coordinator Fay Bloor is a regular visitor to Heritage Wood where trees have been planted in memory of her relatives and where her grandparents dedicated a tree to mark her first birthday.

She explained: “Heritage Wood is a wonderful place to not only visit a tree they have planted but to enjoy the peace and quiet and be at one with nature.

“Such moments of contemplation are particularly important at this time when Covid restrictions at funerals have meant that many people have not been able to say goodbye in the way they would have wished.

“We therefore wanted to work again with Heritage Wood to further enhance the contemplation clearing and help visitors to sit down and take time to remember their loved ones.”

Family-owned Heritage Wood was first established in 1988 as an area for people to dedicate a tree to a loved one – either in their memory after they pass away or to mark a milestone in their lives.

So far 8,000 trees have been planted and there is capacity for a further 20 years of planting.  Owners Tim and Jill Morley are also planning to build an education centre next year.

Mr Morley said: “We have had great feedback from visitors who have enjoyed the table and bench and who continue to compliment the beauty of the dandelion sculpture.

“It has really enhanced the contemplation area in the beautiful clearing in the original part of the wood which captures the light beautifully and is particularly serene and peaceful.

“Wathall’s have long been supporters of Heritage Wood and we are grateful for their further donation.”

Dandelions Support Groups are due to welcome new and existing members again to meetings in Ashbourne and Derby in early Autumn.  They are free to attend and open to everyone - regardless of whether they have used Wathall’s services or not.

For more information about the groups and other bereavement support services provided by Wathall’s, including counselling, Hug After Loss personalised gift boxes and the new children’s bereavement activity book, please visit: www.wathalls.co.uk or call 01332 345268.

 

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