Garden of Remembrance

For staff, the University may have been the place where they spent many years, and colleagues who are left want to recognise their contribution to the University community and feel they are not forgotten. Their family, too, may wish to remember the connection their loved one had with the University.

For students, the University is often the common link between them: wherever they have come from or moved on to, their time at the University is what binds them together.

The death of a current student or member of staff highlights the importance of a place where friends and colleagues can go to mourn their loss and remember the person who has died.

Loughborough University has set aside a walled garden near the Edward Herbert Building as a place where people who have died can be remembered. It has been developed as a Garden of Remembrance with the support of the University, the Development Trust, students, staff, departments and alumni, and has been designed to offer a peaceful and reflective atmosphere. There are benches to allow people simply to sit and remember, and there is provision for plaques showing the name and details of the person who has died to be fixed to one of the walls. The University hopes that by providing such a place, those who have lost family, friends or colleagues will feel that they can continue to acknowledge the part those who have died played in their lives and the contribution they made to the life of the University.

Who can be remembered

Anyone - staff or student - who has been a member of the University community at any time, may be remembered in any of the three ways detailed below.

Who can remember

Anyone may ask for a name to be entered in the Book of Remembrance or for a plaque to be placed in the Garden, although we ask that prior agreement for these options is always obtained from the immediate family of the deceased.

What you can do

There are three ways to remember those who have died, each detailed below. You may wish to choose one or more options.

Book of remembrance

A Book of Remembrance, which has been made specifically for the purpose, is kept in a display case in the Chaplaincy. The names and details of the person who has died are entered in the Book. Each week, a diferent page in the book is displayed. Although the display case is locked the Book can be opened at any particular page and viewed by arrangement with the University Chaplaincy if family or friends wish.

Plaque

An inscribed plaque of standard colour, size and lettering as agreed by the University can be placed on the designated wall in the Garden of Remembrance. The University will be responsible for providing the plaque and arranging for its engraving and placement.

Note: If you are not the next of kin, but would like to remember a friend or colleague by having an entry in the Book of Remembrance or a plaque in the Garden, please discuss this with the next of kin before completing the request form. On receipt of this form, the University will contact the next of kin to confirm their agreement before the entry/plaque is commissioned. It would help us if you could include the name and address of the next of kin for this purpose.

Donation

A fund has been established to provide for the upkeep and development of the Garden of Remembrance, including the costs of plaques and the Book of Remembrance. If you would like to support the fund, your donation will make a real and lasting difference. Donations may be given through the Loughborough University Development Trust either as a single donation or on a regular basis. If you would like to do this, simply tick the appropriate box on the request form which can be found below, and we will send you with the appropriate information.