Ryan Vincent from Hereford tragically passed away in 2009 when he was a passenger in a car accident on the A49 near Much Birch.
His sister Tan told Your Herefordshire how she found her brother’s memorial area in a littered state during a visit this weekend.
The memorial garden which is near the white building at the top of Churchill Gardens, has trees with memorial plaques that date back to the early 1900’s.
Tan told Your Herefordshire:
“When my brother passed away we didn’t want a gravestone and thought a memorial tree was a much nicer idea.
“My mum and my brother’s best friend picked that tree out because my brother and his friends used to hang around under it as teens.
“Churchill Gardens was such a lovely place to visit with benches that had a view over looking the city and beautifully planted rose beds, but it’s now overgrown and looks a total mess.”
Tan continued:
“In recent years the Sensory Garden and Churchill Gardens as a whole have been left to basically go stale.
“The bins have grown over, which has increased the amount of litter, the benches have been completely removed and there haven’t been any flowers planted for a while.
“Me and my mum spent our Sunday morning giving the area a big clean up. Many people are not aware of the memorial garden, but we plead with people not to litter the area or engage in any anti social behaviour.”
Tan added:
“Back in the day part of Churchill Gardens was a Sensory Garden for the blind and it now it looks in a real sorry state. I know the council are suffering with financial cutbacks, but when me and my family go up there, we want to remember Ryan and not to be met with rubbish spread everywhere.”
The top of Churchill Gardens has some fantastic views of Hereford and on a clear day the Black Mountains of Wales are visible.
“Me and my mum gave the area a good clean up and it looks a lot more cared for now, we fully appreciate the cuts to local funding, but we shouldn’t be responsible for the upkeep as it’s a public place, but we just wanted it to look nice for everybody.”
