THE CHILDREN of Dilton Marsh Primary School have created a memorial garden in tribute to neighbourhood policeman PC Mike Johnson, who died last year.
Each year group in the school has been involved in creating the remembrance garden, which features a pair of wooden benches and a bird feeder, surrounded by a willow enclosure and flower beds.
In his role as the Westbury rural area community manager, PC Johnson had a lot of contact with the school where he was well known and liked. He collapsed and died suddenly after jogging to work on Monday 3rd August.
The school officially opened the memorial garden with a short ceremony on Thursday 1st April. The school’s student council, the headteacher, chair of the governors and Mike’s former colleagues and fiancee attended.
PC Johnson’s fiancee and fellow PC Sarah Kaufmann said, “I know Mike would have been very very proud. It’s just amazing that they have gone to so much trouble. It’s just beautiful. It’s a wonderful thing to remember Mike by, and he should never be forgotten because he was such a special man.”
Headteacher Judith Finney said, “We wanted to remember Mike in some way and with this garden he will be here forever and the garden will be maintained in his memory.
“He was a lovely man. He was here all the time and I used to say ‘Haven’t you got anywhere else to go?’
“The children have thought a lot about this garden being different to the others, that it’s not a place to run around but somewhere to think and be quiet.”
Rachel Stiles is the teacher who ran the memorial garden project with the school council. She said, “The children came up with the idea themselves. We thought it would be nice to have a reflective space for the children, but not closed off so people can’t see into it.
“It really has worked well. We planted it in November and it’s growing really nicely. The children have been looking after it and they really love it. It was a real pleasure to be able to do it.”
