‘We want it to last a long time’ – Sheffield community starts fundraiser for their own Covid memorial

The Friends of Chapeltown Park are working with the local parish council to fund a memorial sculpture and seating area where people will be able to remember those who were lost.

They are hoping to raise around £7,500, with the parish council pledging to match that sum to meet the £15,000 total cost of the sculpture and its surroundings.

And they are already well on the way to their target having raised over £3,000 from both private donations and grants from the Aviva Community Fund, the Earl Fitzwilliam Charitable Trust who own Wentworth Woodhouse and Sheffield Council’s Community Fund.

The Friends of Chapeltown Park’s honorary secretary, Doris Denton, said many in the community felt it was important to mark the last year in some way.

She said: “All the community leaders have said they want something tangible and somewhere people can go to remember the people who have died.

“We want it to be a place for private reflection which will last a long time – and hopefully this will.

"It will be in a lovely spot in the park and it won’t just be for Chapeltown – it will be for High Green, Ecclesfield and Grenoside as well.”

The memorial will be made by Stoneface Creative of Stannington whose sculptures and stonework can be seen across the city.

The stone bench will be made in a dry stone wall style but built to withstand vandalism, while the central memorial piece will feature a design created by local schools and then interpreted by the artist.

The sculpture and bench will be positioned on a hill in the park so it overlooks the town, and will also feature a wall filled with individual rocks decorated by local children.

Details of how to enter the competition to design the monument will be sent to local primary schools soon while children are asked to submit their painted rocks to their school by Wednesday, April 21.

To find out more or donate to the fund, visit www.chapeltownpark.co.uk.

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