Vicar blesses garden for dearly-departed neighbours

RESIDENTS and FCHO staff at the blessing ceremony are joined by (front, l-r) Les Berry, Rev John Simmons and resident Carol Hargreaves

A memorial garden set up by a community devastated at the loss of close friends has been blessed in a special ceremony so pals can continue to keep their ashes there.

The Glamorgan Place Community, a group of Werneth residents, set up a memorial garden six years ago when a much-loved neighbour, Veronica Elliot, died.

Since then two more neighbours, Barry Malloy and Bill McCann, have died, and though each neighbour wanted their ashes to be placed in the garden, First Choice Homes said that as the area wasn’t blessed, it was inappropriate to place ashes there.

So the group asked the Rev John Simmons, from Christ Church, Chadderton, to oblige — and last night the area became a memorial garden.

Leslie Berry, who helped set up the area, said: “The garden is a nice place to sit and remember those we have lost. Over the years it has expanded, so when we were told it wasn’t a blessed place we wanted to do something about it.

“All the neighbours we’ve lost have had a big impact on our community — they were all great people to know. This is why the memorial garden was set up. Having it blessed means everything to us, it will be even more special now.”

Dave Woods, from First Choice Homes Oldham, said: “The memorial garden is a small patch in a communal area of land owned by FCHO. We have no objection to the blessing of the garden, or the current use as a memorial to and for local residents, and thank the community for letting us know their plans.”