Jane Aireton unveils the ‘healing gardens’ at her home in Alderney. Pictured from left are Elliot Barras, Jane Aireton, Kathie Charlton, Daniel Le Poullain, Jordan Walters, Josie Wheeler, John Charlton and Josie’s guide dog, Ulay. (0795582)

MORE than 30 islanders gathered  recently to enjoy a prayer walk.

Sculptures were created by children from both St Anne’s School and Ormer House for the event, which took place in Jane Aireton’s garden.

Jane first set out to create the ‘healing gardens’ 10 years ago and organised the prayer walk with the Salvation Army.

Her Windy Corner garden features several different sections, including fragrance, peace and medicine.

Jane said she was delighted with the response from islanders.

‘The walk went extremely well.  They all walked around and really enjoyed themselves.  There was a complete cross-section of people, belief and ages, which was wonderful.’

Jane set out in 1999 to build a garden where people ‘could feel at peace and in touch with their creator’.

‘It is in this state that the healing of body, mind and spirit can take place,’ she said.

‘I divided up what was originally a huge lawn into hexagonal gardens, inspired by the honeycomb built by the bees on the far side of the drive.’

Local schoolchildren were invited to submit sculptures to the garden for its public opening.

St Anne’s pupils Jordan Walters and Daniel Le Poullain built the centrepiece, which is known as the Angel of the South, while Elliot Barras, of Ormer House, helped create an angel from Perspex.

Jordan and Daniel hunted for items at the Impot before building their angel in just two hours.

‘Jane asked us to build a sculpture for the garden,’ said Daniel, 10.

‘She said the Angel of the North was good, so we built an Alderney version.’

Jordan, 12, said: ‘Most of the materials came from the Impot.

‘The football was ours but we had to find all the other stuff.’

Jane said the boys’ sculpture has created quite a stir.

‘I’ve always wanted an Angel of the South in my garden because it is a place of healing. The angel is the focal point of the garden and looks fantastic. I’ve even had people stop their cars while driving past to take pictures.’

Josie Wheeler, who is blind, selected pebbles and placed them in separate containers to represent good and evil for her piece.

‘I wanted to come up with contrasting themes, so I called the works peace and anger,’ said Josie. ‘The peace pot contains smooth pebbles, while the anger pot has pebbles with rough edges.’

Kathie Charlton of the Salvation Army believes the garden offers a chance for people to get in touch with their spiritual side.

‘The idea is to give people an opportunity to use this beautiful space and get closer to God. There are opportunities for people to respond at the various bases in whichever way they feel is appropriate.

‘I think this is the first time anything like this has been organised in Alderney and I hope people find that the garden offers a fulfilling experience.’

Jane added: ‘I thought the time was right to open up the gardens to the public so they can be used as originally intended. Anyone passing by is invited to take a stroll, reflect on their life and embrace healing.’