Memorial stone commemorates Bognor Regis volunteer who brought sunken gardens to life

Friends, family members and fellow volunteers from Bognor Regis Community Gardeners came together yesterday (April 15) for a ceremony which saw the planting of a commemorative tree – a mimosa, one of Kim’s favourites – and a memorial stone.

Both take centre stage in the community gardens, surrounded by the shrubs, trees and wildflowers which Kim spent so much of her time growing, and stand testament to Kim’s boundless energy and enthusiasm.

"I think she’d be so proud that she’s being remembered like this,” said Nicci Rowland, one of Kim’s three children. “I don’t know if she realised, I definitely didn’t realise, how many people knew her for being here. When she passed away, and we saw all the comments on Facebook and spoke to all these people, it’s like we saw that everyone knew who she was.”

"She wasn’t just a gardener, she was a social worker. She knew all the people around here,” added Mary Stanley – a dear friend and fellow gardener – “She used to encourage the children to help out. She loved gardening passionately, but she also loved people and that was the important thing.”

Lauri Hopkins, another of Kim’s children, said: “She was so pro Bognor, always advocating for the town. And this is, well, this is perfect.”

Although she had projects all over town, the sunken gardens was perhaps where Kim spent the most time, making the area a hub for flora and fauna, as well as the perfect place to sit and soak up the sun with a book. An inscription on the memorial stone pays tribute to her hours of work and lifetime of devotion. It reads “In remembrance of Kim Davis (1958 – 2022) who passionately cared for these gardens and planted wildflowers wherever she wished.”

The mimosa tree has been fertilised with Kim’s ashes and sits, alongside the stone, in a patch of earth which the Bognor Regis Community gardeners will populate with wildflowers, ensuring the memorial is as vibrant and colourful as Kim herself.

Addressing his friends and family, Kim’s son Luke Davis praised her hard work and compassion: “My mum spent an awful lot of time down here. Gardening is what she loved to do. She loved Bognor Regis, she loved helping the community, she loved nature and trees and planting. So this is wonderful. There’s no other place for her, no other place for this to happen; it’s prime position in her favourite garden in her favourite town. This gives us all a place to come visit her, and it’s fantastic that she’s going to be remembered, seen here by people who never met her.”

Nicci Rowland added: “Mum had a special connection to this place. She found a lot of comfort in gardening and the feeling that she was making a difference. I like to think that mum’s ashes will continue to fertilise the plants around her so that, even, in rest, she’s making a difference.”