Sponsor a leaf in tribute to a lost loved one in the Snowdrop memorial garden at the Rotherham Hospital

A COPPER tree has been installed as a poignant addition to a memorial garden, with a charity inviting people to pay tribute to lost loved ones by sponsoring an engraved leaf.

Rotherham Hospital and Community Charity’s new memory tree is located in the Snowdrop memorial garden at the hospital, with the first gold leaf dedicated to a much-loved grandmother.

Grand-daughter Katie McKeiver, a healthcare support worker at Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust, said the family was “proud” for the leaf in memory of Mary McKeiver to be the first dedicated.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Mary’s husband Tommy McKeiver lost his wife of 56 years in August 2019 after she suffered a brief illness.

Tommy, (83), of Rawmarsh, and his family were able to spend Mary’s final few hours in the charity-funded Purple Butterfly room.

To commemorate the anniversary of his wife’s death, Tommy has donated £500 to the Purple Butterfly Appeal every year, as well as pledging to be the first memory tree donor.

Katie said: “Since nannan passed away, the charity has felt really important to me, my grandad and my sisters.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“It’s lovely that grandad remembers nannan every year on the anniversary of her death by donating to the charity and to have a leaf of the new memory tree is just lovely.

“We’re so proud that she is the first. It’s nice to come to the Snowdrop garden, to see her name up there and to remember how much she is still loved.

“Losing nannan was heart-breaking but sponsoring a leaf feels like a positive thing to do in her memory.”

A leaf has also been added in memory of 61-year-old Sandra Farthing, who started her career at the trust as a student nurse before becoming a midwife for 42 years, who passed away in January 2021.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Her leaf was requested by friends and colleagues in maternity services and is dedicated to a “calm, kind, gentle and phenomenal midwife”.

The Snowdrop memorial garden was funded by a £11,557 donation from national baby loss charity 4Louis in 2020.

A leaf has also been proudly added to the tree for Louis Knight, whose family founded the charity in his memory following his death in 2009.

The memory tree has been funded thanks to fundraisers Emily Wilkinson, who completed the Margot Marches to Millions challenge with her daughter Margot and her family in 2020 in memory of her mother Carolyn Joy Linkens.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The tree has the capacity to commemorate the lives of 250 people, with each leaf-shaped plaque costing £100.

Suzanne Rutter, charity engagement and development manager, said: “We are really proud of our Snowdrop memorial garden and the new memory tree is a poignant addition, which we hope will bring comfort to families during such difficult times.”