Community rallies round after memorial garden for young Ringwood fire cadet Jade Clark vandalised
A COMMUNITY has rallied round to raise cash to replace a vandalised memorial garden for a young Ringwood fire cadet killed in a road crash.
The deliberate destruction at the town’s fire station on Christchurch Road provoked outrage and an outpour of support for the teenager’s family and friends when the news was shared online.
Installed in June 2013, the garden was a tribute to Jade Clark (16), who died after her moped was struck by a Volvo XC90 on the A31 near the town on 24th February that year.
As reported in the A&T, the driver, Brian Hampton (58), from Kent, was jailed for six years for causing death by careless driving, driving while disqualified and attempting to pervert the course of justice. He was also banned from the roads for seven years.
Popular Jade had been a cadet with the Ringwood Young Firefighters Association, and her instructors and friends decided to create the garden in her memory.
But it was targeted in an act of criminal damage, with its centrepiece water feature smashed on the evening of 20th April.
Fire cadet manager Clair Hayward told the A&T: “We are shocked and disappointed that someone has gone out of their way to inflict damage upon a beloved memorial garden.
“This will have been very upsetting for all Jade's family and friends.”
Jade’s sister Rachel shared her disgust with the attack in an online post.
“It’s [the memorial garden] been there for 11 years and we have never ever had any issue so why someone would want to smash it up now we have no clue!” she wrote.
“It was a heavy duty water fountain so to break it you would [have] needed a sledgehammer.
“Seeing it all smashed up broke our hearts.”
Many took to the comments to share their anger.
One wrote: “So sorry this happened, what sort of perverted pleasure can an excuse of a human being get out of destroying this!”
The post caught the attention of local fundraising group Ringwood & District Round Table, which offered to cover the cost of replacing the garden before launching an online fundraising page.
Chair Charlie Field told the A&T: “When we heard, we were obviously shocked that anyone would want to do such a thing to a memorial to any person, especially a young lost life.
“We saw lots of responses quite quickly on the Facebook group and knew we had funds available, so we had a quick discussion with committee, although we knew there wouldn’t be any objections.
“By the time we did that, we saw other people wanted to help out and we didn’t want to stop them. This is not about us taking over and staking a claim – we just want to help as much as possible.”
He added: “We just want to get the memorial garden replaced as soon as possible, back to its former glory, to the family’s specification. Any leftover donations will go to a charity or cause the family chooses.”
Rachel was grateful for the group’s help, saying: “That is amazing, thank you so much!”
A Hampshire police spokesperson said a 56-year-old woman from Fordingbridge was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage but later released without charge.
Donations towards replacing the garden can be made at tinyurl.com/cbyk8a2j