Sheila (seated), who gathered to inaugurate Annabel and Joan’s bench
A memorial bench dedicated to NWR members Annabel Irwin and Joan Lamprell has been welcomed by some of our local NWR. Annabel and Joan died in 2022 and we will now be able to stop and pause in a place which meant so much to them. Saved from developers at the turn of the Millennium thanks to donations from benefactor Sybella Bonham Carter and the local community, the Millennium Green is a haven for local communty and wildlife and provided our NWR group with a valuable outside meeting place during the Covid years.
The memorial bench came to reality through the efforts of local NWR member, Sheila Stocks, who fundraised over £800 from Annabel and Joan’s family and friends towards purchase and installation costs. The latter were saved due to husbands and friends chipping in to do the installation for free and the surplus has been divided between Stroke Association UK, Melanoma Research, Cancer Research UK and Motor Neurone Disease Association, the latter two in memory of other friends, long standing NWR member Ginny Merricks, and husband of Julie, Peter Woollcott, who also sadly passed away in the interim period.
From our LO Sue:
On behalf of our group I would like to say an enormous thank you to Sheila for all the work involved in organising the bench in memory of Annabel and Joan.
When our friends died in 2022 within a few weeks of each other I think we were all traumatised. During this distressing time, Sheila suggested getting a bench on the Millennium Green where we often walked with them. Instantly this gave much comfort; it was cathartic, something positive to do and a wonderful idea. So straight away she wrote to the powers that be, pitching our case for a bench in the field. This I might add was the first of very many letters!
‘There were a few stumbling blocks along the way ‘ said Sheila, putting it mildly. Many times her letters were not even answered, or she was told repeatedly that it wasn’t possible at this time.
However thanks to Sheila’s persistence and determination, after two years we were able to come together and enjoy this place of rest and contemplation.
Thank you Sheila, you are a star!