On behalf of the Committee, our sincere thanks to all those members who contributed to the memorial, and we are pleased to say we have now closed our appeal.

Our grateful thanks to Mick Turmaine, our Treasurer, who has done an excellent job over the past 17 months, accounting for the varied donations from around 430 members and others, plus dealing with many queries. 

Many of you have asked how much has been raised for the memorial fund? The most recent update was £21,800.  We have achieved our £21K target and have enough to cover the cost of a dedication ceremony.  Any surplus money will be placed in the Association General Fund.

For information, the following is a comprehensive update on the history and current financial commitments for the memorial project:

Following the decision of the 2023 Association AGM to erect a memorial, our initial cost estimate was £20K, based on £10K for the memorial and £10K for the Arboretum Fees  We set an initial target to raise £20K.

Members were invited to submit design proposals and different options were considered.  The final design was based on the Sparks Badge, and we had to make some changes, to adhere to the Arboretum Authority rules. Having settled on a design, in February 2024 the committee submitted a planning application at a cost of £1,200.  Because donations were slow at the time, we opted to move matters forward by paying the planning fee from our Association funds.Planning approval was received in May 2024 and our Chairman met with the Memorial Mason and Head of Estates at the Arboretum to ascertain detailed costs.

Memorial Fees.  An agreed fixed price of £10K plus VAT included a blue granite memorial, with our chosen design, transport and erection at the Arboretum.  Total fee £12K

ArboretumFees.  An agreed fixed priced of £9,060.10P.  (No VAT).  This includes in perpetuity, maintenance, strimming around the base, washing to remove detritus 4 times annually and repainting the lettering when required and any repairs in the event of damage.  There will be no further financial call on our Association.The total cost for both fees is £21,060.10p and on that basis we updated our memorial appeal to £21K.

Dedication Ceremony. Our Chairman met with a member of the Events team at the Arboretum earlier this week, to discuss our dedication ceremony, planned for 21 March 2026 at 1400 hrs. An update on the ceremony will be provided for all members in our Chairman’s December newsletter.