By Lesley Walsh
THE PERENNIAL beauty of daffodils is to replace a tree of remembrance at Mount Stewart damaged in January’s Storm Éowyn, on which hung hundreds of yellow ribbons and messages penned by bereaved people.
The tokens of remembrance were mostly written by people whose loved ones spent their final days being cared for at the Marie Curie hospice and in the community, and who subsequently received counselling at the palliative care centre.
But now bereaved people will have a permanent new place to remember their dearly departed, rooted in the very soil of Mount Stewart when a garden of daffodils will be planted in their memory.
Each new daffodil will be planted by individuals whose bereavement journey has been made easier by the kind support of the Marie Curie counselling service who have helped develop a very effective counselling tool, aided by the natural beauty of the National Trust property on the Portaferry Road.
That tool has been ‘Walk and Talk’, a partnership formed between the two charities which sprung from the difficulties of the Covid pandemic when social distancing prevented the bereaved from visiting counsellors at the hospice, based off the Knock Road in Belfast.
Volunteer support counsellor Helen Laird, who also volunteers at Mount Stewart, attended yesterday’s launch of the garden and explained how the walks started when she couldn’t meet in person with a bereaved family member.
“During Covid we weren’t able to go into the hospice, so support was given on the phone,” she said.
Subsequently, she suggested meeting people for a walk through Mount Stewart where social distancing could be maintained.
Soon, other Marie Curie counsellors were supporting a number of other people through walks at Mount Stewart.
“Eventually a very special and unique partnership was developed between Mount Stewart and Marie Curie which was very unique, where bereaved family members could meet with their counsellor and walk and talk,” she said.
Post Covid, the huge benefits of offloading the impact of a bereavement within the natural environment of Mount Stewart was recognised as something to cherish and maintain.
“From there we developed the Next Steps walking group which meets once a month for recently bereaved people and for those who attend the bereavement cafe at the Marie Curie hospice,” she said.
The memory tree, tied with yellow ribbons and messages, followed, but when Storm Éowyn swept through the National Trust property, thousands of trees were uprooted, destroyed and damaged, including the one with its special significance for local bereaved people.
Considering the vulnerability of any similar future memorial tree, it was decided to plant daffodils instead, as a flower which returns each year to replace the more than 250 ribbons that previously adorned the tree.
As a result, many dozens of members of the Walk and Talk initiative planted a daffodil on Wednesday, each representing a precious life gone but never forgotten.
“For these people who can’t find that much that interests them in life, it is such wonderful therapy to be out in nature. It’s a wonderful gift that Mount Stewart has given them,” said Helen.
“It’s about giving them a chance to celebrate their loved ones.”
