Author: Hazel Southam, 18 August 2023
The Psalm 27 Garden is now open to the public in its permanent home, Sheffield General Cemetery, where it’s been called ‘an amazing miracle’.
The cemetery is now a conservation area and a local nature reserve, owned by Sheffield City Council. At the official opening recently, trustee Dave Hunt, told the 80 visitors that receiving the garden from Bible Society had been ‘an amazing miracle’.
‘It’s instantly transformed this area of the cemetery,’ he said. ‘We are very grateful to Bible Society and designer Ollie Pike for their amazing generosity.’
The garden was officially opened to the public by the Deputy Lord Mayor, Jayne Dunn. Appropriately, she used Sheffield steel scissors to cut a green ribbon to the cheers of the assembled company.
Addressing the gathered guests, young designer Ollie Pike said that he had found the cemetery to be a place of solace during the pandemic. ‘So,’ he said, ‘it was really important to me that the garden lived on at Sheffield General Cemetery after the RHS Flower Show Tatton Park.’
Some 1,500 plants were transferred from the showground to Sheffield immediately after the Show. Thirty local volunteers helped plant the garden which is now open to the public.
Bible Society’s CEO Prof Paul Williams said, ‘Psalm 27 deals with issues of fear, loss and hope which are still so relevant to us today. So, we hope it’s a reminder and an invitation to go back to something foundational, spiritual and beautiful in our lives.’
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