A MEMORIAL garden has been created in Worcester to commemorate those who have gone missing in conflicts around the world.

Staff and volunteers rolled up their sleeves to plant the garden at the Red Cross offices in Worcester to mark the International Day of the Disappeared yesterday.

As reported in yesterday’s Worcester News, Mayor of Worcester, Councillor David Tibbutt, helped to plant a tree in Gheluvelt Park as part of the campaign.

Through its international tracing and messaging service (ITMS), the Red Cross reunites family members who have lost contact and helps them stay in touch when normal means of communication have broken down because of conflict or disaster Organiser Penny Thompson, ITMS manager for Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Shropshire, said: “The British Red Cross traced 400 people last year and is currently trying to trace the relatives of 1,252 families from countries all across the world.

“In Herefordshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire, much of our work is with people whose families were separated during the Second World War.

“The team is currently working on about 40 cases, with two successfully completed in the past 12 months.”

The International Day of the Disappeared is an annual commemoration of people who have gone missing during armed conflicts or other situations of violence and whose fate is unresolved.

For more details, visit redcross.org.uk/dayofthedisappeared.