Why public is being invited to donate money to Dundee Covid memorial.

An online crowdfunding campaign with a £40,000 goal has been launched. The public is asked to make donations to a new Dundee Covid memorial.

Councillors in the city had already approved the construction of a memorial on unoccupied ground between Caird Avenue and Moncur Crescent, on the former site of Coldside Nursery. It is intended that the garden will be completed by next autumn.

In August, the local government announced how the £168,000 memorial would be funded. This includes contributions from the following sources:

• £100,000 Greenspace Scotland Project Grant
• £32,700 from the Coldside Community Regeneration Fund
• £25,000 from the Nature Restoration Fund
• £5,000 from the Leng Trust
• £5,000 from the Alexander Moncur Trust
• £300 from the Dundee Changemakers Hub

£40k online crowdfunder for Dundee Covid memorial

However, Unesco City of Design Dundee has launched an online crowdfunding campaign to finance the project, with a goal of £40,000.

Annie Marrs, the lead officer for Unesco City of Design Dundee, affirmed that all other funding was still in place, but that this public crowdfunder marked a “additional stage in the development of the memorial project.”

She informed The Courier that the extra funds earned through this crowdfunding effort will go directly towards the growth and prominence of the central artwork itself.

“We have been moved by the number of people who have enquired about how they might contribute to the memorial.

“This fundraising effort provides a meaningful opportunity for the public to participate in making the artwork even bigger and better, as well as to take home a symbolic piece of the memorial.”

“The more that is raised, the larger the artwork will become and the more elements of the memorial will be featured within the garden.”

Those who donate money to the Dundee Covid monument will receive various prizes according on the amount they provide.

Anyone who donates £100 will be assigned a bird to the garden’s focal artwork and will receive a corten steel bird ornament and a packet of wildflower seeds.

Covid memorial to give bereaved families ‘a place to sit and share memories’

Donors of £50 will receive a bird ornament and a packet of wildflower seeds, while those who contribute £20 will receive wildflower seeds to plant in their own yard or community. The garden’s focal artwork will be a sculptural display of birds in flight.

Estelle Coulthard, a former Family Support Coordinator at Home-Start Dundee, is one of the project’s participants. She said: “I lost my grandfather to Covid and never had the opportunity to say goodbye.

“The memorial garden will allow me to sit and share my memories with others, as well as provide a delightful area for our younger generation to learn about how Covid changed our life.”

Kirsten Wallace, project coordinator for Unesco City of Design Dundee, stated: “We have created this crowdfunder to assist fulfil the community’s full goal for this co-designed Covid memorial for Dundee.

This campaign allows anyone who were not previously participating in the memorial’s co-design phase to become a part of its creation.

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