Grieving parents say they are distressed by a “neglected” baby memorial garden.
Families feel more upset after visiting the final resting place because it is in such a state of ‘disarray’. Lisa Hughes lost her beloved Millie 14 years ago, at the age of 23 weeks, and the Inverclyde Royal nurse frequently visits her grave at Rankin Memorial Garden at Greenock Cemetery in Scotland.
Andrewina McCann buried her stillborn daughter Pamela in the garden 38 years ago, but said the garden is not the way it once was. Lisa said if she had known what the garden was going to be ‘neglected’ she would have buried her daughter in a private plot.
Lisa, 42, who lives in Greenock, said: “It is so disheartening. I lost my daughter in 2011 and I go up quite a lot. It was a lovely wee place. Then I don’t know if it was Covid, I felt it was left and forgotten. You can’t even read the sign that tells you what the gardens are for.
“It’s harder to go up because it is not the same, you feel more upset and angry leaving them than feeling comfort. You there to focus on your child, but it takes the focus away because of all the mess around about.”
The memorial garden was designated as a place of remembrance for babies where bereaved parents can visit their loved ones. But Lisa feels so upset about it all she now had wished she had done things differently.
She said: “I was told about the baby garden and that gave me some comfort, with all the babies being together but you can only do so much as it’s not your own space, it’s a wide area with other parents and babies. Had I known that it was going to be neglected, I would have had my own plot.
“It’s away up at the back of the cemetery with hedges all round about, you wouldn’t know it was there if you weren’t visiting the garden.”
Lisa says she is not looking for much but some sensitivity and respect. She added: “We are not looking for flowers and rainbows but it’s so dull, there is a big bush stuck in the middle. It doesn’t fill you with much comfort, you leave more upset than you did when you arrived.”
She also added there used to be a memorial every year at the crematorium and then people would walk up to the cemetery to lay flowers. However this has been put on hold since Covid and more recently because of improvements to the crematorium.
Andrewina McCann, pictured back in 2016 when the gardens were vandalised, said she is also disappointed at the way the gardens have been left.
The Skelmorlie grandmother said: “After Pamela died I use to go up every Saturday and Sunday and then every week, it was a tranquil place to go to sit with your thoughts, we used to sit on the grass. That was more than 30 years ago, now we go up at birthdays and at Christmas to lay flowers. I feel sorry for newly bereaved Covid, seeing what it is like now.
“I feel angry that it has not been maintained, all they do is cut the hedge down, nothing else. It’s all went downhill. I guess it is lack of funds. We used to go up there after a memorial service every year and then it stopped after bereavement and never started back.”
Andrewina, who has four other grown-up children and five grandchildren, said: “We asked if we could put in benches but were told no, that was the council’s responsibility but nothing happened. Two of my daughters are nurses and they have been to some services through the hospital and they say this is the worst memorial garden they’ve seen. You wouldn’t think it was a memorial garden for children.”
Martin McCluskey, Inverclyde’s MP, called for action after seeing pictures online of the memorial garden strewn with litter and in a state of disarray. Mr McCluskey said: “The memorial garden needs to be a place of peace, a place of refuge for people who have suffered the worst kind of council.
“Nothing is more distressing than losing a child. The memorial garden should be a place of peace, not distress, for people who have faced some of the worst grief imaginable. It was clear looking at these photos, there at been littering or vandalism and anywhere in the cemetery such actions are disrespectful.”
He contacted the Inverclyde Council who said they were going to get in touch with Inverclyde Community Development Trust to see if they could deliver support. Council bosses confirmed they will be taking action with the help of the Trust and the memorial service will resume this year.
A feedback spokesperson said: “The Rankin Memorial Garden at Greenock Cemetery is inspected and maintained on a regular basis to ensure it is in the best possible condition so we are disappointed to hear that the garden wasn’t looking its best on this occasion. We aim to cut the grass every 14 days and it was last cut a fortnight ago so another cut is due in the coming days. When the grass is cut, staff also carry out litter checks and will carry out a litter pick as necessary.
“Work is planned for the wider cemetery, including the addition of new benches which have been ordered and planting of wildflowers, in addition to recent road resurfacing and other enhancements, but we welcome feedback on any further improvements that could be made.
“The annual service of remembrance was postponed due to Covid restrictions at the time and has more recently been on hold due to recent crematorium upgrade works, however, we are planning a return of the service this year with a view to making it an annual feature once again.”