A BEAUTIFUL sculpture symbolising the everlasting bond between bereaved parents and their baby will form the poignant centrepiece of the garden.

University of Bolton student, Victoria Lynch’s design was one of three shortlisted from 12 entries and chosen as the overall winner by a panel of judges.

The artwork represents a tree with the parents’ hands clasped in the form of wings — and parents visiting the garden will be able to leave messages on pebbles in remembrance of their child, which will be placed around the base.

As the sculpture is made up a child’s hand will be incorporated in the design as suggested by the hospital.

Victoria, aged 55, said: “The sculpture represents the tree of life, the circle of life, which has different meanings in different cultures, representing strength and connection with the ethereal and reaching for the sky.

“I had done a lot of research and wanted to the piece to be non-denominational as we live in a multi-cultural society.

“I am honoured to have my design chosen to help people through their grief. It means a lot as I had done a lot of research to understand grief and I did not want anything literal, but a focal point for people for people.” She added: “This was my first professional brief for a sculpture and there was good competition.”

Alan Buckingham, programme leader for fine art, said: “The hands do not want to let go, they are supporting the child as the hands are also like wings.

“The child’s hand will be around the butterfly, which is the hospital motif, and the parents’ hands around the child.”

Mr Buckingham said: “All the designs have been wonderful and I am very proud of them, they have all worked very hard and we really appreciate the hospital’s support in providing students with a real life experience.

“The other two students are gutted not to have been chosen, because they did put a lot of work into the designs but they have benefited from the experience, they have been take out of the safety of the university to work on a real life project going through the different processes, so it has been invaluable for them.

“They will receive feedback as to why their design was not chosen.”

Rev Neville Markham, chaplain at The Royal Bolton Hospital, said that students were given a brief to design a piece of artwork for the memorial garden, which had to come in at budget, which was £5,000, and incorporate a butterfly, the hospital’s symbol to mark bereavement.

He said: “I have been very impressed by all the designs, they are three very contrasting pieces, a mix of modern and traditional materials.

“The piece needs to be able to stand the test of time as there has been a garden here for 20 years and will be here for the next 20, 30 years.”

Rob Kirby and Luke Baybutt were the two other students shortlisted.

Rob’s piece a water feature, worked on many different levels, with water symbolic in all and no religions, as a life giving and also used through the years to take people away in death, with the spiral representing ever decreasing circles of life. Parents would be able to write messages on disposable material which would dissolve in the water as well as sit and remember. Rob, aged 48, said: “I thought this was an exciting opportunity, my three children were born at the hospital with one born with an umbilical cord around his neck, luckily he was okay and is now 21-years-old. The hospital also cared for my dad and mother-in-law.

“This was a good opportunity to put something back.”

Luke Baybutt, aged 23, designed a plinth to go alongside a sundial which bereaved parents could use as a focal point to remember their lost child. He said being shortlisted recognised the work he had put into the design.

He said: “The clock theme shows life running as a machine and parents can put cards on in the piece, which are designed as gears, so they are adding a piece of themselves.

“Parents can added personalised cards to it which then can be placed in memory book and a bigger card can be created for parents to keep.”

Judges said they faced a difficult decision deciding between the three shortlisted art pieces. Andy Lee, charitable fundraiser for Royal Bolton Hospital, said: “It was really hard to make the decision.”

“The actual piece we like the tree coming out and forming human hands and the panelists asked if we could have baby hands also holding the dome.

“Everyone loved the idea of the water, in which a message would dissolve into the water as you walked round it as to show it had been sent off.

“But it as the maintenance, we had members of Bolton Lads and Girls Club help clear the land and the cleared tonnes of leaves and if the piece was not surrounding by trees, but we could not face all those leaves in the water, it was really nice.

“With Luke’s design, he said it could be completed by Christmas but part of the brief was to have it completed by end of June, when we hope to open the garden.”

The memorial is being funded through the Art Fund of the charitable fund.

Mr Lee added: “All of them were absolutely beautiful pieces and all a fitting memorial for the garden.”