Trees of Remembrance blossom

Trees of Remembrance are now standing at its branches Douch & Small in Wimborne, AE Jolliffe & Son in Ferndown, Lesley Shand in Corfe Mullen and Blandford, Ives and Shand in Parkstone and Albert Marsh in Wareham and Upton.

Anyone from the community is invited to pop in to a branch and write a message for a loved one then hang it from the tree.

It is anticipated that by Christmas the trees will be dripping with moving messages.

Any donations will go to local Dementia Friends groups, an Alzheimer Society initiative to assist those living with dementia.

Dementia Friends is the funeral business’s charity of the year for 2019.

The group’s James Smith branch in Swanage has sponsored Christmas trees at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Swanage and St George’s Church in Langton Matravers, upon which messages can be left.

Ollie Oddy, from the Albert Marsh branch in Wareham, said, “These Trees of Remembrance have become something of a tradition in the group.

“People really do find it helpful to write a message to a loved one – it doesn’t matter how long ago they passed away.

“We’re inviting anyone in the community to get involved and although we’re tucked away we’d love people to find us in St Michaels’s Road which is close to the big pay and display car park.

“For many it will be the first Christmas without a wife, husband, mother or father and the words are very moving.

“A tree of remembrance is a wonderful way to capture special memories and to celebrate a life.”