Tŷ Hafan Children’s Hospice has created a dedicated Tŷ Hafan Precious Memories Memorial Flower Garden at The Knap in Barry.
The beautiful grounds of Tŷ Hafan’s hospice in Sully include a Memorial Garden which commemorates all the children who have been cared for by the hospice and who have passed away.
Children and families cared for by Tŷ Hafan, on-site staff and volunteers prize their ability to spend precious time in this Memorial Garden where they can benefit from the peace and tranquility offered by this very special place.
There they can process difficult times, deal with sometimes overwhelming emotions, reflect on what has been, think about what may lie ahead, and, do what they can to accept whatever they are facing.
In order to maintain this peaceful atmosphere as well as the privacy, security and safety of its Memorial Garden, Tŷ Hafan’s grounds are, of necessity, not open to the members of the public on a day to day basis.
So to enable the public to have similar opportunities to reflect, as well as, to learn more about the work of Tŷ Hafan, the charity has created its new Precious Memories Memorial Flower Garden.
Fiona Hawthorn, Individual Giving and Legacies manager for Tŷ Hafan, explains: “Our thinking was to create a beautiful outdoor public space which offers people somewhere for quiet reflection about their own loved ones who are no longer with us. Our Precious Memories Memorial Flower Garden will also provide a means for us increase awareness of Tŷ Hafan and facilitate donations via an on-site QR code.
“Discussions started in March 2023 as a joint venture between Tŷ Hafan, the Vale of Glamorgan Council and Barry Town Council and initial works were completed by two teams from our corporate volunteer partners WEPCo and Companies House and they were supported by two of our existing volunteer gardeners, husband and wife team, Paul and Tracy Meakin.
“Plants suitable for a coastal location including carex, heathers, armeria, ajuga, asters, hebe, campanula and sedum have been planted so far with all bought thanks a Green Grant from Barry Town Council. Lovely volunteers from WEPCo did the hard labour of clearing the ground and then a crew from Companies House did the planting, ably assisted by Garden Volunteers.
“Plus the initiative has enabled us to recruit some new volunteers – Viv, Joanne and Rose – who will be looking after the ongoing maintenance of the gardens. So already, this project is helping us to reach new people who are willing to support Tŷ Hafan and the children with life-shortening conditions who we care for.”
“Print Sauce kindly put up a bilingual sign for us which reads: ‘Tŷ Hafan Children’s Hospice invite you to take a moment to reflect and remember your loved ones in our beautiful Precious Memories Memorial Flower Garden. This memorial garden, in the heart of the beautiful The Knap gardens, is lovingly maintained by our volunteer gardeners.’
“There are so many people I would like to thank for their help with this project, too many to mention here, but I would like to take this opportunity to say a massive thank you to Jon Greatrex, Parks Manager, Vale of Glamorgan Council, in particular, for his support. Without his help, this project would not have got off the ground.
“It’s going to be so exciting to see this beautiful new feature come into its own as the weather gets warmer and the plants establish and bloom and we hope that as many people as possible from the local community and beyond will enjoy, and be inspired by, what it offers.”
Tŷ Hafan is now looking forward to officially opening its new Precious Memories Memorial Flower Garden at a date to be confirmed in the spring.
