Memorial Afternoon at Stoke Mandeville Combined School

On 9th July, Stoke Mandeville Combined School held a memorial afternoon and picnic for Graham, and to celebrate the completion of many of the projects that Graham had started. Towe and the children were there, along with Ken and Betty Hollows. Here are some of their photos and Towe's own account of the afternoon.

It was incredibly powerful and emotional. It was a celebration of everything Graham had done for the school & the projects they have finished on his behalf since he died. The children were lovely - so welcoming and talked about Graham all of the time. They clearly adored him and he is a very big part of their school life even though he is not with them.

The projects they had completed were the library, the play area (the chaps brought the bench to school the week after Graham died and gave it to the school), the courtyard, the reception area and the stage lights (after he'd got the staging blocks last year).

There was a picnic for the whole school. The parents & grandparents arrived at 2 pm and had tours by the year 6s of the completed projects. Just before 3 pm everyone went down to the bottom of the field where there was a net of blue & white balloons - one for every child in the school in the school colours. Some words were said about all the lovely things Mr. Hollows did for the school and how much he meant to everyone in the school, there was a minute or two of silence & then the balloons were released. As they flew over the school everyone clapped and cheered for him.