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Lottery Funding awarded for Lower Leas garden
By Courtney Knowles
A new unique garden has been funded by the Lottery to be built in Folkestone’s Lower Leas Coastal Park. The grant from Awards for All has been awarded to a group of women from Shepway to transform part of the park into a quiet garden for reminiscence.
The group of Shepway women, Jan Elston, Anne Greer and Diana Harrison all unexpectedly lost a child, and therefore believe this spot is the perfect place to remember those ‘who died before their time’. The purpose of The Look Out and Remember memorial garden, is for family and friends to sit in solace looking over the sea and remember their loved ones who have sadly passed. To help them will also be a pebble path that leads into a pool for anyone to throw in a ‘memory stone’.
Diana Harrison, whose daughter, Kate, died aged 33 after losing a battle with alcoholism, said: ‘We each feel the enormous benefit of spending time walking or sitting by the sea, with its big skies, changing light, smells and sounds. It helps me to feel calmer, gives me a sense of peace as I try to come to terms with Kate’s death.’
Working in partnership with CRUSE Bereavement Care South the garden aims to provide an environment open to all.
The project can go ahead thanks to a five year lease granted by Shepway District Council. Thanks to the Lottery grant the project is finally giving Anne, Diana and Jan the hope that they and others will be able to relax in the garden.
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