Posting letters to heaven 'brings me comfort'

Bronagh Parke says posting letters to her two-year-old daughter who died in 2016 brings her comfort

A bereaved mother has said posting letters to her late daughter has helped her with the grieving process.

Bronagh Parke posts letters to her daughter, Sofia, in a special letterbox at the City Cemetery in Londonderry.

The Letters to Heaven initiative saw white post boxes installed at four cemeteries in the district for mourners to send a letter to a loved one who has died.

A decision was taken to remove one of the letterboxes in Castlederg after objections were made at a Derry City and Strabane District Council meeting on Wednesday.

The council then carried out a further consultation process and said that of the 133 responses, the majority of which, they said, were negative.

"Anything to do with where people have their loved ones and the gravesides here is a very sensitive issue," DUP councillor Keith Kerrigan said.

"People grieve and mourn in their own particular way and some people had concerns about council stepping into the ground."

Mr Kerrigan previously told BBC Radio Foyle's The North West Today programme that some church ministers in Castlederg had told him it went against the teachings of their faith.

The Letters to Heaven initiative saw special letterboxes placed in four of the largest cemeteries across the Derry City and Strabane council area

Bronagh Parke told BBC News NI that, for her, posting letters in the white letterbox at the City Cemetery in Derry makes her feel like she is speaking to her two-year-old daughter.

Sofia died in 2016 from a congenital heart condition.

"For me, I have tried different ways to deal with my grief and process how I'm feeling on a day-to-day basis," Ms Parke said.

"It's like having a diary, you know. Grief is very personal.

"Everybody deals with grief differently and for me I found that journaling, documenting and writing a letter really helps me."

Two-year-old Sofia died in 2016 from a congenital heart condition.

Ms Parke said losing a child is the worst thing that any parent can go through and losing a loved one is incredibly difficult for people to come to terms with.

"Our loss, still to this day, is horrendous," she said.

"It broke our hearts, it broke our whole family's heart."

Ms Parke said she understands everyone processes losing someone in different ways and said she respects everyone's own personal journey.

Alfie Scott says people should be free to remember their loved ones whatever way the like

Alfie Scott said everyone should have the right to remember their dead relatives in whatever way they want to.

"I can't see it [the letterboxes] as a particular problem," he said.

Carol Scott said she wouldn't send letters in the letterboxes herself but that if it helps any family with the grieving process then she supports it.

"I wouldn't find it offensive and if it helps some families then that's good enough for me," she said.

"To each their own."