A former north-east putting green has been transformed into a memorial garden for a neonatal bereavement charity.
The Friends of Turriff Cemetery have worked with the Banff and Buchan branch of Sands to create the space.
A marble bench, trees and shrubs have been installed at the space where local golfers once practiced.
Fraser Watson, chairman of the Friends of Turriff Cemetery, said the project was nearing completion, with only a few finishing touches needed.
He said: “The work in the Sands area is almost complete now, with just some tarring to be carried out by the council and a wee bit of path work still to do.
“Once that is done people can go in and lay their memorials because there will be little plaques going up.
“The memorial garden is utilising a space that hasn’t been used for some time, but which the council kindly gave us access to.
“We have laid flower beds and different organisations have come along to help us.
“Sands approached us regarding the installation of the marble bench and we were happy that they chose Turriff Cemetery.”
Beth Buchan, a member of the Banff and Buchan Sands group, said the memorial garden and bench would raise awareness of the charity’s work.
She said: “We are there to support bereaved parents, but we also want to make people aware that they can contact us.
“The memorial garden is somewhere for people to go to reflect and remember their babies if they don’t have a headstone of their own.
“Putting even just a little bench in a garden with ‘Banff and Buchan Sands’ on it does raise awareness and tells parents there is something people can turn to during a tragic time.”
Aberdeenshire Council helped back the memorial garden project with £5,000 in funding.
In April, an imposing new entrance was created at Turriff Cemetery. The wall replaced a chicken wire fence that once stood in its place.
Efforts to improve the state of the graveyard were started by former Press and Journal farming editor Joe Watson and were taken-on by his brother Fraser following his death in 2014.
Sands is a national charity that provides support to parents who lose a baby during or soon after birth.
For more information about the north-east branch, contact banffbuchansands@gmail.com.
