Tilemaster Adhesives is supporting the creation of a remembrance garden to celebrate the life of Finlay Church who raised over £100,000 for charity after being diagnosed with a brain tumour.
At just 10 years’ old, Finlay Church was diagnosed with a brain tumour. During a year-long battle with the disease, he helped to raise £100,000 to help others, as well as breaking a world record for the longest line of teddy bears – 15,534 – and receiving numerous accolades, including the Pride of Birmingham Award.
Sadly, Finlay lost his fight last autumn and the mosaic garden at middle school – Alvechurch Middle School in Worcestershire – aims to celebrate his life.
With the support of headteacher David Snell, the design for Finlay’s Garden was created using the children’s ideas of how they wanted to remember Finlay. It will include around 25 mosaic stepping stones which will be cemented within a 20-metre pathway leading up to the main part of the garden, in the shape of angel wings.
Finlay’s family are designing and making the inner circular mosaic with mosaic artist Jackie Nash, which will be positioned within the wings. Throughout the installation, adhesives, grouts and primers donated by Lancashire-based Tilemaster Adhesives will be used to fix the intricate ceramic mosaics.
Finlay’s charity has now raised over £140,000 for brain tumour research and the Birmingham Children’s Hospital. Jackie and the sponsorship team hope to complete the remembrance garden by the end of November, a year since Finlay lost his battle. The official opening event will provide a lasting legacy to Finlay. It will also highlight brain tumour research – which currently receives less than 1% of national funding, despite being the biggest and most serious cancer threat for UK children.
Jackie’s husband, Elliott Nash is carrying out hard landscaping, with further sponsorship and support provided by EH Smith, Kilkay, Hobby Island, Hannah Genders and Hilary Lanigan (Garden Designers), Pisces and Webb’s Garden Centre. To find out more, please visit www.facebook.com/finlaysjourney; www.finlaysjourney.com
For more information, please contact:
- Tilemaster Adhesives on tel. 01772 456831, email info@tilemasteradhesives.co.uk or visit www.tilemasteradhesives.co.uk
- Jackie Nash at www.jackienashart.com and www.facebook.com/MosaicDesign.
