Back in March 2020 the Prime Minister announced that the UK was going into its first national lockdown because of the coronavirus. West Herts and Dacorum were among the worst hit places in Hertfordshire with our local hospitals overfilling with admissions of coronavirus patients. As a carers ambassador for carers in Hertfordshire, I lost friends, neighbours, colleagues and people from the community that I had known and supported for over 20 years. It broke my heart to know that so many families where unable to say a proper goodbye to their loved ones because of the lockdown restrictions.
During the first lockdown I had an idea that would involve the Dacorum community getting together to raise money for a memorial tree. A safe place where families and individuals can go in a moment of reflection to remember those they lost. After speaking with my eldest granddaughter who has continued to work throughout the pandemic, we set about getting in touch with our local MP. Having now had correspondence from both the MP and Dacorum borough council we have been given a green light to start this community project.
More information and the finer details are still being worked out at the moment and the exact location that the tree will be planted still needs to be discussed. These details will be shared through our Facebook events page much closer to the official planting date. (This has been shared on the Hemel Hempstead community & conversation group and Kings Langley Matters) please feel free to share among other groups that we are not part of.
We have already begun raising funds for this project with a few local businesses having already pledged money to the cause. We are not asking for people to break the bank as we understand that a lot of people will be having financial difficulties of their own, if all you can afford is a £1 donation that is more then enough to support your community.
We are calling for everyone in the community local businesses and all to get involved and help raise money to buy this memorial tree. All the funds we raise through our crowdfunding page are purely for the purchase and upkeep of the memorial tree, we do also plan on buying a special plaque for the memorial tree and any spare money is leftover, we would like to put towards a bench to go next to the tree or if we are unable to do that we would like to hear your thoughts and idea’s of a similar community project but somethings that gives back to Dacorum.