This page is intended to tell you what 'Farewell my friend' is all about.

If having read through this page, the 'How to' page and the 'FAQs' you are still not clear on any point or you need to ask a question please do not hesitate to get in touch with us - see the 'Contact Us' page for details.

On the 3rd February this year I lost my long time companion, Siggy, my Boxer. She had been with me constantly for the last eleven years.

At the end her legs gave out, after surviving four operations for cancer over as many years, and I had to have her put to sleep so that she did not suffer. That was the hardest thing I have ever had to do.

What made it worse for me was that there was no focus for my grief. Nowhere I could go in quiet moments to pay my respects and remember the good times we had together, the times I waited anxiously for her to recover from an operation or the times she lay on the doormat crying, waiting for me to come home from hospital.

What I wanted was a garden of remembrance but that was something I had not got the space to create nor the money to set up but then it occurred to me I might be able to go one step further and create something others could share and benefit from.

I created the virtual garden of remembrance where you can walk with your departed companion and say "Farewell my friend".

Future Plans

What the future holds is difficult to see. What 'Farewell my friend' becomes will be dependant on how many people here in the UK or overseas, especially the States, make of it. If only ten people decide to share with me then we will remain a small clique of people sharing our memories. If more than a hundred decide to join then the service will have to grow.

If the service becomes popular 'Farewell my friend' will look at different ideas for helping animal welfare groups and charities. It could be by way of a donation or it could be through setting up a trust fund. It really does depend on how many people want to use the service but whatever the future holds every one who has joined 'Farewell my friend' will be asked for their opinion when the time comes.