A Walk through ‘The Children’s Memorial Garden  & Foodbank’ – Autumn 2025

Tucked away in the quiet countryside of Longwick, the Children’s Memorial Garden is far more than a beautiful outdoor space, it is a place built with compassion, meaning and community.

This autumn, we visited the Garden to see the latest updates, meet the volunteers and learn more about how the space continues to support bereaved families and the wider community.

Growing change – where support begins in the soil

Our walkthrough begins at the entrance gate, where calmness seems to settle the moment you step inside.

Just ahead lie the vegetable fields and polytunnels – the home of our Growing Change initiative.

Every Monday at 9am, volunteers come together to harvest fresh, home-grown produce. All vegetables are delivered the same day to One Can Trust and Wycombe Food Hub, ensuring local families receive the food at its freshest.

This season, the kale is coming to an end, with vibrant chard lasting a little longer, with both being harvested since the summer. Earlier in the year, other beds were filled with runner beans, grapevines and pumpkins of all shapes and sizes. Nothing goes to waste here, pumpkins are saved for family craft days, where children decorate them with paint, patterns and lots of imagination.

Everything grown here becomes part of something bigger, food for families, materials for activities, and a symbol of community care.

The four seasons garden – a place of memory and meaning

As we continue past the growing area, a pathway leads us into the Four Seasons Garden, the emotional heart of the site.

This space is divided into Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter quadrants, all pointing into a central circle where families come to reflect, breathe and remember their children.

Each section carries its own symbolism:

• Spring brings daffodils and a sense of renewal.
• Summer bursts with single-flowered blooms chosen to support pollinators.
• Autumn offers warm, deep colours for reflection.
• Winter holds Christmas trees, eucalyptus and festive greenery, which soon will glow beneath soft fairy lights.

You can find beautiful strawberries in a bed, lavender lining the path at the entrance of the archway and some visitors like to add small personal touches to their planted trees, ranging from decorated hearts to little messages, left in memory of loved ones.

Near the Winter section, a pebble and stone area offers a creative space where families can decorate and place their creations. It’s a gentle reminder that expression can be healing.

A garden built on renewal & reuse

Sustainability sits quietly at the heart of the Garden.

Every autumn, volunteers collect fallen leaves, compost them in large bays and reuse them to enrich the soil. Nothing is wasted, everything is returned to the earth with care.

This ethos reflects the Garden’s values: reuse, replant, restore.

Volunteers – the heart of the garden

The planting tables nearby often fill with volunteers chatting, learning and working together. Some volunteers happily weed in the borders whilst there are also others that prefer to sit and sow seeds or propagate plants. The tables are regularly positioned so everyone can work in the same area.

Tasks range from sowing seeds and weeding to mulching and preparing beds.

Experience isn’t required – kindness is. Many volunteers say the Garden gives them purpose, friendship and a sense of belonging.

At the far end of the Garden sits a willow area with fourteen varieties in different shades and textures. These are used for weaving workshops, handmade wreaths and festive decorations, all crafted on-site.

The orchard – inspired by a story of healing

A pathway leads to the Orchard – a quiet, contemplative space inspired by The Secret Garden. Here, apple, pear, plum and cherry trees stand alongside a beehive tended by a local beekeeper.

Families often describe the Orchard as a place where they can simply breathe. A place that feels held, safe and gentle.

If you’re lucky, you might spot a rabbit hopping through the orchard, and sometimes even foxes or deer. A tiny moment of joy for little ones visiting the Garden.

A place built for love and hope

The Children’s Memorial Garden exists for families who have experienced the deepest loss. We offer a space where memories are honoured, stories can be shared, and connection grows again – slowly, softly, season by season.

To support the Garden, volunteer, or learn more, visit: https://childrensmemorialgarden.co.uk/

Or follow us on –
Facebook at @childrensmemorialgarden
Instagram at @thechildrensmemorialgardens
LinkedIn at @The Children’s Memorial Gardens

Watch the walkthrough

If you’d like to see the Garden for yourself, we’ve also created a short video walkthrough from our visit. It captures the spaces, stories and seasonal updates described above.

👉 You can watch the full walkthrough video here.