People all over the UK still have time to create a piece of history by creating a design for a Covid-19 memorial which will be in place for generations to come.

Westerleigh Group, the UK’s largest independent owner of crematoria and cemeteries, is creating memorial gardens at more than 30 of its sites nationwide.

The centre-piece of each garden is a large obelisk which Westerleigh is inviting local people to contribute to.

An open invitation is being extended to people of all ages and from all walks of life to submit designs to be etched onto the stone monuments in each of the gardens.

The managers of Westerleigh’s crematoria all over the country have sent personal invitations to schools, art clubs, youth projects, care homes, hospitals and many other organisations in their local area, asking them to come up with ideas.

But there is an open invitation to absolutely anyone to submit a design idea.

The competition was launched last month and a number of designs have already been submitted but with a closing date of October 31, there is still time for more people to submit their ideas.

The Westerleigh Group is split into seven regions throughout the UK and wants a different design for each of those regions.

Roger Mclaughlan, Chief Executive Officer of the Westerleigh Group, said: “This means that people could incorporate local landmarks, or something else that is representative of their region and community into their designs.

“When we decided to create these gardens, we said we wanted to provide permanent, tranquil places for people to visit to remember loved ones who died during the pandemic and also to remember and reflect on those who have sacrificed so much to help others who were sick, isolated or vulnerable.

“We also said we wanted local people to help shape how the gardens would look, so that each of them would become something of importance to our local communities, and this competition is a way for local people to be able to make their mark on the monuments.

“Earlier this year, we released an artists’ impression of what the memorial gardens will look like, and this included a floral display representing a rainbow around the monument, which has become a widely-recognised symbol of hope during the pandemic.

“We’ve been very interested to see some of the creative designs people have already submitted to us. There has been a good mix of birds, plants and clever use of different shapes. But there’s still plenty of time for other people to submit their ideas.”

The obelisks are made of polished black granite, and the seven winning designs will be individually carved into them by Westerleigh’s own highly-skilled stonemasons.

Every single obelisk nationwide will feature an inscription, which reads: “This memorial has been placed to remember and recognise the lives and efforts of all affected by the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020.”

The seven Westerleigh Group regions are East, London, North, Scotland, South, South West and Wales. The winning design for each region will be featured in all the individual memorial gardens within that region.

Plaques featuring the names of the winning designers will be attached to the memorials, so the winning designers will see their names go down in history.

Mr Mclaughlan added: “Our sites have close links to their local communities and are places where people go to say goodbye to their loved ones and reflect on life.

“Everyone has been affected by the pandemic this year and we wanted to create permanent and lasting memorials in each of those communities. We wanted to enable people to get involved and help us with the design.

“The design itself can be full-colour but needs to be simple enough so that it can be carved onto stone, so some creative thinking is required.”

Designs should be no bigger than A4 in size and must be submitted by Saturday October 31. After the closing date, a shortlist of final entries for each region will be drawn up and winners will be chosen.

Work is expected to start on the stone memorials later this year, with garden landscaping taking place in early Spring 2021, before opening shortly afterwards.

Entries can be emailed to: designcomp@westerleighgroup.co.uk or posted to: Design Competition, Westerleigh Group, Chapel View, Westerleigh Road, Westerleigh, Bristol BS37 8QP.

Entrants should include their name, address and a telephone number so that they can easily be contacted if their design is chosen.