Bereavement phone destroyed after just a few days

1 hour ago

Eleanor MaslinEast Yorkshire and Lincolnshire

News image — Pete Winchester was one of the volunteers at The Pilgrim Shed who helped create the wind phone

The Pilgrim Shed A composite photo of two images. On the left is a man in a grey cap, a navy fleece and grey jeans holding a black dial phone with a cord up to his ear. He is smiling and sitting on a bench next to a tree. A wooden box with a cream dial phone holder inside it is next to him. On the right is a close-up of the box which has been damaged and the dial phone ripped from its shell. — Pete Winchester was one of the volunteers at The Pilgrim Shed who helped create the wind phone

A disconnected telephone designed by a charity to help bereaved people reconnect with their departed loved ones has been destroyed less than a week after being set up.

The wind phone, which includes a dial phone in a box and a bench by a tree, was created by volunteers of The Pilgrim Shed in Immingham, North East Lincolnshire, and placed in Homestead Park last Wednesday.

On Monday, the group discovered the phone had already been "ripped out and smashed".

Mick Cruddas, one of the trustees of The Pilgrim Shed, said: "We're not going to let these vandals put us off. If it gets wrecked again we'll just continue trying to put it right."

The wind phone, which came from the Immingham Museum, was installed after the idea was given to The Pilgrim Shed by local charity Acorn Youth.

The damage to the phone and the box was discovered on Monday morning by the bailiff for the fishing pond while he was opening up the gates.

The Pilgrim Shed posted a photo of the damaged wind phone on Monday on social media.

The post read: "Someone knows who has done this. Whoever ripped the phone out and smashed it was seen by others. Do the decent thing and report this scum.

"How can we try to improve our town if everything we try to do is trashed by low-life?"

The Pilgrim Shed A composite photo of two images. On the left is a grey plaque which says "Wind phone: This phone is for everyone who has lost a loved one. The phone is an outlet for those who have a message they wish to share with their lost family and friends. It is a phone for memories, and saying goodbyes you never got to say." On the right is a wooden box with a cream dial phone holder inside it, next to a tree and a wooden bench. — The wind phone was designed to help those who are bereaved

Cruddas said the wind phone had been designed to offer comfort for people who were bereaved.

"If they felt inclined they could pick up the phone and talk to people who were no longer with them," he said.

"It's very upsetting. There's quite a lot of thought that had gone into it as well as the work that it took to make it."

Despite this, he said the group was "certainly going to replace it" and find a dial phone from somewhere else.

'We won't be defeated'

"We're going to resurrect it," Cruddas said.

He added that there were about 20 members at The Pilgrim Shed on Monday who were all very "cross and upset" about what had happened.

Wind phones originated in Japan. As well as speaking to those who have died, they can also be used to share positive memories, pass on good news and express gratitude.

The Pilgrim Shed, which has been going for more than three years, is part of an alliance of Men's Sheds across the Humber area, designed to offer support while developing new projects together.

"You've got to put your trust in that there are more good people around than bad people," said Cruddas.

"We won't be defeated by the minority and we'll carry on."

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