We have recently received a letter from Solihull Council, giving us 10 days notice that on the 1st February 2021 they were going to physically remove the wooden surround at our children’s grave @ Widney Manor Cemetery.

Solihull Council “SC” advised that the wooden surround went against the rules as we have a ‘lawn’ grave and the 3 reasons for removal were as follows:

1) Some wooden frames encroached on other families’ graves and restricted access for that family. 

Our counter-argument: We fully understand that this would cause distress to families who have been subject to this, however, please do not punish everyone because of this. Write to the ones who have taken up more space and ask them to rectify urgently.

2) The wooden surround is a trip hazard for visitors etc.

Our counter-argument: This is quite simply not a good enough reason, there are so many trip hazards at cemeteries - uneven ground, curbs, slabs etc, etc. 

3) It’s more difficult for the groundskeepers to maintain.

Our counter-argument: This particular reason was very upsetting, how can we spend millions as a Country tackling mental health (rightly so) but then look to do something as barbaric as this which would seriously damage the mental health of parents who are grieving the loss of a child? All because SC does not wish to spend additional funds on maintenance. If this is a real issue, then we would gladly maintain our own plot. 

Note: SC has also admitted that the regulations in place at Widney Manor were not clear which led to confusion and ultimately the wooden surrounds being installed, but now they have updated the regulations, hence the letter!

We installed our wooden surround after seeing many other beautiful surrounds at Widney Manor, the surrounds are not a new thing, families have been laying them at their children’s graves for many years before us.

For those who don’t know, we have 2 children at Widney Manor - Teddy & Rose.

Receiving this letter in the post has been extremely upsetting for our family. We installed the wooden surround in July 2020 to try and bring some ‘comfort’ to us, to make it a brighter place to visit. 

It allows us to plant flowers, which look and feel nicer to us than just seeing a lawn with a headstone - this is especially important to our other children who call it Teddy & Rose’s ‘flower garden’.  

The reasons given by SC above are simply not good enough reasons for them to just turn up and dismantle what we have installed at our cost, but above all, fitted with love and care to try and make our children’s ‘flower garden’ a brighter place to visit. 

We do not believe SC fully understands the mental and physical consequences of what they proposed. 

We have already lost our children, our lives have changed forever and now we are being told that the place where they lay is going to be ripped up and turfed !?!? 

Quite frankly, we do not want anyone touching our plot - we cannot do anything to bring our children back, but we will not stand back and allow this to happen without doing everything in our power to STOP them. 

The good news is due to pressure from many people, SC has stopped the planned removal for the 1st February 2021, however, they have said they will revisit the plans, hence the creation of this petition!

We wish we was not in a position where we had a children’s plot at Widney Manor, but that is the reality of our life and many other families.

Thank you for reading this far, we would be very grateful if you would also take the time to sign & share this petition to help STOP Solihull Council from removing the wooden frames from the children’s graves at Widney Manor Cemetery.

Thank you all so much.

Mike & Trisha White

P.S Once you have signed the petition it asks if you want to share or donate, please do NOT donate, we are very grateful that you have taken the time to sign - if you could also share to your friends and family, then that would be brilliant.