A COLOURFUL new garden of hope has been created in the gardens of a church in Caerleon.
The people of Caerleon have created the garden in St Cadoc’s Church with messages of hope on rocks and wooden hearts and there is a £25 book prize for the person with the best designed rock.
Cher Sherwood runs a group on Facebook called Challenge Caerleon and this is where the idea stemmed from.
Ms Sherwood said: “It’s a crafting group for the locals, I was researching on Pinterest for craft ideas and I saw a school in America had a kindness garden.
Some of the rocks under the tree
“I thought it would be a nice idea to put messages of hope under the tree on rocks.”
After getting permission from councillor Jason Hughes and Reverend Sue Pratten, they agreed it would be located in the church grounds at St Cadocs.
Ms Sherwood has been uploading various instructions and pattern ideas including marbling, stickers, stamps, decoupage and buttons to create unique rocks.
MORE NEWS:
- Children across Gwent heading back to school today
- Woman, 85, in critical condition after Abergavenny collision
- 'Every day was magical': Family celebrate the life of three-year-old with complex needs
An NHS Angels rock design is one of the ideas Ms Sherwood has given the group
Parents and children have been getting involved, with around 200 rocks. Ms Sherwood said: “I think its brilliant, its been going for about three and a half weeks and people are still adding them. Everyone loves it and kids like visiting the fairy house rocks.”
The tree of hope decorated with rocks and wooden hearts
Some of the designs include messages of hope, the new Caerleon stamp, fairy houses and nature-inspired rocks.
A rock hunt has also been created, with some containing messages in Welsh, hieroglyphs and Morse code, which are accompanied by a quiz for the children to decode.
There are also around 50 wooden hearts on branches which was organised by another villager.
Ms Sherwood said: “The aim is to get crafting which is good for stress, boredom and anxiety, to create a community spirit, for children to learn new skills and for it to be interactive and educational.”
They are also hoping that at the end of lockdown, there will be a special chest and display in Caerleon Museum to donate the rocks and hearts to act as a record of the lockdown and a celebration of the work.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here