Some of you will know that at the beginning of this year we had a bench installed on Bristol Downs, for those who are local near the Sea Walls.
It was something I have wanted to do for a long time but as with all these things they are expensive.
I find myself spending many a moment walking across The Downs to have a quiet moment of reflection, and I hoped others would do the same.
People often criticize such things as being unimportant, but I knew that it could make a difference.
Recently we have had grandparents and grandchildren reunited after a very long time of being apart, and to be able to tell others of this reunion is what BGSG is all about, sharing those dreadful times of desolation but also sharing the joy of reunifications.
What has this got to do with BGSG’s bench?
It was whilst a family were out for a run, as many thousands do on a daily basis on The Downs, that our bench was noticed.
Nothing particularly strange about that, until you know that it was noticed by a family who were estranged.
It opened up a conversation, about how sad it was that grandchildren and grandparents were not seeing each other, and to why this family themselves were indeed estranged.
That conversation was led by children to adults.
The outcome was that this family have now been reunited and are starting their own personal journey of building trust and working on a brand new relationship.
A grandparent who was going through the living bereavement we have all faced, was also walking on The Downs, when he came upon the bench, he also sat and had a moment and rang our helpline.
A simple thing like a bench with a plaque, has done the most amazing thing and brought a family back together and has given others hope.
So this morning as I sat there, I was so thankful and I wondered how many others would be part of our little bench’s story?
