Garnant garden blooms in memory of brave Mark

A Garnant garden is in full bloom, in special memory of a much-loved character who is sorely missed in the community.
Bus driver Mark Withers sadly died in May 2013, after a brave fight against cancer.
He was known and loved by many, and the whole community got behind him when he starred in the very first series of the popular TV programme The Great British Bake Off.
So, when his wife Elaine and son Jethro decided to do something special in his memory, they were not short of helping hands.
Their story features on the front cover of Carmarthenshire County Council’s Tenant 2 Tenant magazine, which is written by council tenants.
Elaine wanted to talk about her garden project as part of the council’s Pride In Your Patch project, which is part of the council’s £220millionCarmarthenshire Homes Standard investment.
“My husband was quite a character locally, and people loved him wherever he went - to say it has been hard without him is an understatement, I miss him every day,” said Elaine.
“When he died, my son and I decided to do a garden in his memory. We had 10 volunteers who wanted to help us as he’d left them with special memories.
“We have quite a big garden, and Mark loved roses, so we designed a rose garden with climbing roses, shrub roses, bush roses, flora bunda and many more. It went from a weed alley to a beautiful rose garden.
“My son made a garden bench out of an old sleeper and I painted it. When we placed it in the garden, we both sat on it and looked at the garden and cried. Mark would have loved it – we all worked very hard on it.
“We can say that we are very proud of our patch.”

Are you a council tenants and would you like to share your story in the next issue of Tenant 2 Tenant? Call 01554 899290 or emailtenant2tenant@carmarthenshire.gov.uk