Ambulance Memorial
AMBULANCE SERVICES
NATIONAL MEMORIAL UNVEILING
16th September 2004
at
The National Memorial Arboretum,
Alrewas, Staffordshire.
At the Ambulance Services Benevolent Fund’s 2002 Annual General
Meeting a proposal was tabled to look into the feasibility of erecting
a suitable and befitting memorial for all Ambulance personnel who
died for whatever reason during their employed uniformed career.
After a great deal of research and hard work
by the ‘Memorial Committee’ the Ambulance Memorial garden
site was developed in the very prominent position at the entrance
of the National Memorial Arboretum, Staffordshire, and names of
lost colleagues were gradually collated to form a ‘Book of
Remembrance’ in their honour depicting their dedication which
has helped improve the Health of our Nation down through the years.
Sadly, we believe this book to be still incomplete, if you have
any names which you feel might not have been included, we would
love to hear from you to help us complete this ongoing task.
With the invaluable help of the Mr Roger Thayne
OBE, and Staffordshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust, the host service,
the ‘Ambulance Services National Memorial’ unveiling
took place on the 16th September 2004. The ceremony was enhanced
by ‘Colour Parties’ from both Staffordshire, Surrey
and Westcountry Ambulance Services, ironically Bedfordshire &
Hertfordshire had to withdraw their ‘Colour Party’ due
the funeral of a member of their staff, Mark Hall, on the very same
day.
Following a formal service of dedication led
by The Right Reverend David Bentley and assisted by Reverend John
Allen, Reverend John Rowe and Father Taylerson, within the NMA Millennium
Chapel of Peace and Forgiveness those assembled made their way to
the Ambulance Memorial within the landscaped memorial garden for
the official unveiling by Ms Rosie Winterton MP, Minister of State
of Health and the presentation of the ‘Books of Remembrance’
to Mr Paul Phillips, President of the Ambulance Service Association,
for safe keeping within their Head Office in London.
The ASBF Trustees would like to thank all
those who contributed in whatever manner during the two years of
planning which made the 16th September 2004 such a successful and
meaningful occasion. We are pleased that Colin Jackman, a serving
Paramedic from Sussex Ambulance Service NHS Trust, was able to film
this historic day and if for any reason you were unable to attend
or would just like a copy, the highlights are now available in either
video and DVD format, priced at £7.50 each plus 50p P&P
from the Secretary c/o Cherith 150 Willingdon Road, Eastbourne,
East Sussex, BN21 1TS (please make cheques payable to ‘Ambulance
Services Benevolent Fund’, thank you.
If you would like to find out more about the
National Memorial Arboretum why not visit www.memorialtreesuk.org.uk
or write to: The National Memorial Arboretum, Croxhall Road, Alrewas,
Staffordshire. DE13 7AR. Telephone: 01283 792333 or better still
set a date to spend a day there and view the National Ambulance
Memorial in person.
No Ambulance Services Benevolent Fund finances
were used for the ‘Memorial Project’ only money donated
specifically for the Memorial Appeal was used.
A Personal Reflection of 16th September
2004
by Angelo Picardo
For me the 16th of September 2004 was a
very sad day. I was attended the unveiling of the Ambulance Services
National Memorial at Alrewas, a sad and poignant event because back
in my home town of Bedford, the funeral of a colleague, Mark Hall,
my area manager was taking place. He had died suddenly and completely
unexpectedly just the week before. I, as well as everyone else in
Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire Ambulance Service was totally shocked
to hear of Mark’s sudden death.
When the date of the funeral was announced
it coincided with the unveiling of the Ambulance Memorial at the
National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas Staffordshire. I was about
to telephone Norman Lakin to let him know that I would no longer
be able to read the poem at the service as I would be attending
Mark’s funeral when something made me stop and then change
my mind, and go to Alrewas.
When I was first asked by Norman if I would
read a poem at the unveiling service I was surprised because it
came ‘out of the blue’. I had only recently been introduced
to him when he asked me and I thought, why ask me? He knew nothing
about me and had only just met me. What I found out later was that
my dear friend Rob Flute had volunteered me. I was honoured to be
asked to take part in such an important event. In the fourteen years
I have been in the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Ambulance Service
I had known a lot of people who had died while serving. Some of
them I hardly knew, others such as Don, Richard and Wendy I knew
very well and considered them to be friends rather than just colleagues.
When I received the poem I was to read
‘God’s Garden’ by Dorothy Gurney, I could not
admit to having ever heard it before. Many of my family commented
on how fitting it was for such an event, then realised it had even
more meaning when my colleague Richard had died; we planted a memorial
garden for him at our station. This whole occasion was going to
be very personal; it was not just going to be a matter of reading
just a poem at the unveiling service. The names in the memorial
book were of people I actually knew and had worked with.
The ceremony was only a week away when
Mark died and when the telephone call came I just cold not believe
what I had been told. The last year in BHAPS has been a real downward
ride as far as tragic deaths and incidents. It was not long after
Wendy’s death when Sue was taken to hospital seriously ill
following a cerebral bleed. Two years ago Richard had died and before
him, Don. There had also been other deaths and serious illnesses
among people I knew by name only. I really wanted to go to Mark’s
funeral to pay my respects to him even if I could not admit to being
a close friend of Marks, I never got the chance to know him well
enough, but I knew him for long enough to realise what an honest,
decent, and genuine nice person he was.
In the end I decided to go to Alrewas and
pay my respects to Mark there along with Wendy, Richard, Don and
all the others who have died while serving for the Ambulance Services
of the United Kingdom and those all over the world, there is a memorial
to September 11th at the Arboretum also.
The Ambulance Service Memorial is the first
one you see on entering the Arboretum. It is simple and dignified
and stands like a guardian almost over the rest of the Arboretum,
just as Ambulance men and women stand as guardians over all the
people they serve. The Arboretum is a quiet and dignified place,
full of so many memories in the short time it has been in existence.
The last paragraph of ‘God’s Garden’
says:
The dawn of the morn for glory,
The hush of the night for peace,
In the garden at eve, says the story,
God walks, and his smile brings release.
That is the Arboretum.
Angelo Picardo
Paramedic
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire
Ambulance and Paramedic Service
NHS Trust.
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Created by Michael W North IT Services. Copyright Ambulance
Service Benevolent Fund 2004.
Last updated June 2008
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