Ayana’s Grove

Ayana’s Grove

Our beautiful daughter loved trees and cared about the environment. She made a poster to take to a climate strike in 2019 and she would always read the backs of packets to understand how to recycle them. She used to berate Nathan for cutting down trees when he worked with his tree surgeon friend for a while in 2021, even though most tree surgeons love trees too.

When we were asked to nominate a charity for the funeral in lieu of flowers, we found it very hard to decide on one. We knew it should be an environmental charity but we couldn’t decide on one that would be just right for Ayana. Eventually we came across the work done by the National Forest, which is located in the Midlands and is accessible from Leicester. They have turned large swathes of the Midlands landscape that had been left scarred by centuries of coal mining and other heavy industry into a forest. The first forest to be created at scale in England for over 1000 years, it transformed and literally turned the landscape from black to green.

The National Forest gives people the opportunity to dedicate a grove in memory of a loved one, and we have decided to do this for Ayana.

Ayana’s Grove will be planted between Nov 23- Mar 24 and will become an area of over 200 mixed woodland trees and looked after for 25 years until it has turned to a matured woodland. Ayana’s Grove will be a place the family and her friends can go to remember Ayana and it will also help the environment.

In lieu of flowers, we ask that you kindly consider donating to help create Ayana’s Grove.