- 33 blossoming trees will be the centrepiece of a new public
garden at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park
- The trees, one for each London borough, will commemorate
Londoners, including key workers, who have lost their lives to
Covid-19, as well as our city's shared experience of the pandemic
- The lasting living memorial will be the first planting in a
National Trust spring blossom campaign to be launched in 2021, to
improve people's access to nature where they live
The Mayor of London, , has today
announced that a new public garden of blossom trees is to be
created to commemorate Londoners who have lost their lives to
Covid-19 and the impact the virus has had on all of us since
March.
In partnership with the National Trust and with support from
Bloomberg, the Mayor is creating a lasting living memorial at
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The blossom garden will allow all
Londoners and visitors to the capital to contemplate and reflect
on the thousands of lives that have been lost in London, the
vital efforts of key workers, and the city’s shared experience of
the pandemic.
A total of 33 blossoming trees will be planted at the heart of
the garden, representing all London boroughs and the City of
London. The eight species of spring blossoming trees have been
chosen for the memorial as the blossom season coincided with the
start of the first national lockdown in March this year, at the
peak of the first wave of the pandemic.
The trees will be planted in three rings – a central ring of 17
trees, and two smaller rings of nine and seven trees – in the
north of the park early next year. The new public garden will be
in the borough of Newham, which has been one of the worst hit by
the pandemic and was home to the NHS Nightingale Hospital at the
ExCeL exhibition centre.
The Edible Bus Stop® and Davies White Landscape Architects have
been chosen as the designers and landscape architects of the
memorial and Rosetta Arts have been chosen to work closely with
the community on its development. Local artist Junior Phipps will
be collaborating on the design of a path and public benches.
This first commemorative planting is in partnership with the
National Trust, and reflects the Trust’s ambitions to give more
people, particularly those living in cities, improved access to
nature. The blossom grove will be one of many to be planted
across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The tree plantings
also signal the start of the charity’s ambition to plant 20
million trees over the next decade, which it announced in
January.
Further work is taking place with boroughs and TfL to commemorate
the impact of Covid-19 on London and it’s key workers.
The Mayor of London, , said:
“Covid-19 has had a devastating impact on our city and our
country, and while we continue to battle the virus we are
creating a lasting, living memorial to commemorate those who have
lost their lives, pay tribute to the amazing work of our key
workers and create a space for all Londoners to reflect on the
experience of the pandemic.
“The pandemic has changed our capital forever. It has
disproportionately impacted many of our communities and exposed
and widened inequalities in our society.
“This public garden of blossom trees will be a permanent reminder
of the lives that have been lost, a tribute to every single key
worker, and a symbol of how Londoners have stood together to help
one another.”
Nicola Briggs, Director for London & the South East from the
National Trust said: “Over the next few years we want to do more
to bring beauty and nature to urban areas.
“This space will thrive and become more beautiful as the trees
grow and become part of their surroundings.
“We want to work hard to ensure that together we design something
that is appropriate for the neighbouring communities; somewhere
that becomes a space for reflection as well as bringing nature
and beauty to more people.”
Jemma Read, Global Head of Corporate Philanthropy, Bloomberg L.P
said: “Through our philanthropic work in cities around the world,
Bloomberg has experienced first-hand the role that shared public
spaces play in re-building communities after tragedy.
“We hope the blossom garden will provide all Londoners with a
space to honour the memory of those we've lost to Covid-19,
acknowledge the efforts of those who worked to protect us and
reflect on the lived experience of the pandemic that connects us
all.”
