Family’s wood project in honour of poet Benjamin

A South Holland family are looking to create a new wood in memory of their friend Benjamin Zephaniah.

The poet, activist and actor, who lived in Moulton Chapel, was laid to rest last week in a private ceremony after his death aged 65 last month.
The Birkett family have been working on creating a wood for the public for several years and say they told Benjamin a year ago they wanted to name it after him.
Ivana Birkettova said the family had bonded with the Peaky Blinders actor over their shared love of Triumph cars.
“Benjamin was absolutely lovely and an inspirational person to be around.
“He was very open minded and was always looking to change things for the better.
“He’d been into our children’s schools and they all knew about him.
“We got to know him in the last three years, mainly through cars.
“Our hobby is looking after our Triumph TR7 cars and he had one that he brought around.
“We’d talk for four or five hours about them.
“He got to know us all and our eldest son Henry is a musician.
“He plays guitar on the Big Brother video Benjamin posted on You Tube four months ago.”
Ivana says the two hectare wood is close to completion and it includes parking spaces.
It’s to the rear of the Rabtrak business the family owns which services gardening equipment, in Low Fulney.
“We had the land which is just a meadow really with a few trees already,” Ivana continued.
“We wanted to do something for the environment and for the public.
“We also hate cutting the grass to be honest.
“We’re hoping it will be open and ready for people to come and visit in the next couple of months.
“Benjamin was honoured when we told him we were looking to name it after him.
“We knew he liked plants with roots and would be supportive of the project.”
A statement from Benjamin’s social media channels on the day of his funeral said: “We know a lot of people want to show respect to him but cannot join his funeral.
“As Benjamin does not like flowers without roots, we recommend that if you want to, please plant something like flowers, trees or any plants you want to, anywhere you wish, name them as Benjamin Zephaniah in memory of him.
“Or you can send the money to charities The Vegan Society, Donal Watson House, 21 Hilton Street, Hockley, Birmingham, B18 8HJ or Inquest, Third Floor, 89-93 Fonthill Road, London, N4 3JH, both of which he supported.”