A bench placed to commemorate community efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic has been stolen.
The bench, donated by Bishopdown Mask Makers in August 2020, was placed in Castle Hill Country Park, with a plaque which reads: “Donated by Bishopdown Mask Makers in 2020 to celebrate how our community came together during the COVID-19 pandemic”.
From April 2020, a group of people from across Salisbury who enjoyed sewing came together to help support those on the front line. They began by making scrubs, and then later down the line they created “mask trees” where people could get a mask with a suggested donation of £2.
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Eleanor Evans, 59, was one of the mask makers.
She said: “It was just feeling we could do something which somehow made a bit of a difference. We raised about £1500 in donations for the NHS, women’s refuge and the bench.
“Lots of awful things came from COVID but it’s one of the positive things - a celebration of the positive parts of our community which came out of that crisis.”
On Monday, July 15 2024, the team were shocked to discover that the bench had been stolen.
Eleanor said: “We're just really hurt and upset that somebody would be so disrespectful.
“We’re a team of about 10 people, and we’re just really sad and upset about what’s happened. It’s been reported to the police, but we have to be realistic about what can be done.
“These benches can be very personal – it may sound trivial, a bench, but all of them have a story behind them and an emotional resonance as well.”
The bench was used frequently by passers-by, as Eleanor described: “It’s a really good point for people to stop as it’s a really steep hill.”
This comes after a bench placed in memory of woman who lost her life to cancer was stolen from St Michael’s Wood burial ground in Cholderton earlier in July.
“It can be replaced, but it will cost £800 to replace it. I don’t know where that money is going to come from. It’s deprived people from a place to sit and rest.”
Anyone who knows anything about the whereabouts of the bench should contact: parish-clerk@laverstockford-pc.gov.uk
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