Little Spirits Garden

Little Spirits Garden

The Little Spirits Garden at Royal Oak Burial Park will be a dedicated public memorial space where parents and families can grieve loss of a pregnancy or the death of a baby at (or soon after) birth, and the community at large can remember, share, and openly acknowledge pregnancy and infant loss together.

1 in 4 pregnancies end in miscarriage or stillbirth.  In Greater Victoria, that equates to approximately 500 families each and every year.

This public memorial space will be available to every family in Greater Victoria, regardless of financial circumstance, and no matter where or when they may have suffered the loss of a pregnancy or a stillbirth.  The Little Spirits Garden will be accessible to everyone, of any age, faith, culture, sexuality and regardless of the circumstances of the loss.  Families of child bearing age will be the primary users of the garden, but the Little Spirits Garden will be open for use to those who have lost a pregnancy or had a stillbirth years, even decades ago.

Although such memorial sites exist in many other jurisdictions around the world, this will be the first of its kind in Canada, a unique and special place where bereaved moms, parents and ultimately the community could gather to grieve and openly acknowledge the tragedy that is pregnancy and infant loss.

Along with the physical garden, we are raising awareness about pregnancy and infant loss with a view to alleviating the stigma around this kind of loss.  This past October, for the first time, BC joined other jurisdictions around the world to proclaim October 15^th of each year as ‘Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day’.  Royal Oak Burial Park marked this special, yet somber occasion by hosting a candlelight vigil to remember the Little Spirits lost in our community.  We plan to host this vigil each and every year on October 15^th.

We are fundraising to make this garden happen.  If you are interested in assisting our efforts, please get in touch with us via facebook at: www.facebook.com/littlespiritsgarden  There you will find a community of people who have experienced this kind of loss and are helping one another to cope.