The National Memorial Arboretum is celebrating the eight-year anniversary of the creation of a very special remembrance garden.

The RAF Association's remembrance garden was created at the arboretum, in Alrewas, on the edge of the National Forest, on September 28, 2009.

It was designed to provide people with a peaceful space to reflect and commemorate the lives and contribution of family members, friends, RAF squadrons and RAF Association branches.

Since the garden first opened, more than 250 memorial stones have been laid there, and every year visitors plant more than 65 crosses.

One thank-you letter of note, from someone who uses the garden, says: "The association’s remembrance garden is a nice place to come and remember my friend, along with many other members of the RAF family." Another reads: "We have placed a stone in the memorial garden for grandad as a tribute to what he did for his country."

Every year, a memorial service is held by the RAF association to place stones and crosses to remember those who paid the ultimate sacrifice.

An amazing 262 family members and friends of those commemorated in the garden attended the 2017 service, and a special ceremony is being planned for 2018, which marks the 100-year anniversary of the RAF.

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