Volunteers have helped plant trees at a memorial site in Tadpole Garden Village.
Stuart Olden moved into his home in the North Swindon development six-and-a-half years ago.
Having served in the army with tours of Iraq, Germany and Northern Ireland among others, he and other residents realised that the village had no memorial site like others do.
“We thought it would be nice to have a memorial for those lives lost in the military, the emergency service and for anyone who just wants to remember a loved one,” said Stuart.
“It brings people together in the community and the open spaces help with both mental and physical health.”
The 55-year-old set up the Tadpole Garden Village in Bloom group alongside Pete Welsh of the RAF, and the group grew and grew, leading to them creating and implementing the memorial.
“It took a couple of years thanks to Covid delays but we got there with everything being approved and having the funds of £8,500 raised,” said Stuart.
“The memorial stone is Purbeck Stone from Lewis Quarries in Swanage, Dorset, and my brother Will Butler designed all of it.”
Two years on, a variety of trees have been planted at the site by the group, whose membership is at around a dozen.
“We had a further £2,000 raised for the planting addition that we have just done,” said Stuart.
“There are now 12 trees with a mixture of both silver birch and wild cherry which were planted this weekend.”
Progress at the memorial site has gone forward without any problems since, and this has left Stuart feeling very positive about the venture.
“I feel very proud to see it all come together as it’s a really special area,” he said.
“People can come along and just pay their respects in peace now.”
Services have already been held at the memorial, with the first of these held in 2021, and this has been received well.
“It is a very special thing for us and you do get quite thoughtful there,” said Stuart.
“It’s nice to have one in our own village and I am really pleased to see how people have received it.”
The next and final step of the memorial is to introduce flowers with a wildflower meadow with poppies and bulbs planned to happen in the coming months.
“We will be planting some wild grasses to give some movement around the memorial,” said Stuart.
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