At the beginning of July after many months of planning the members of the Rotary Club of Nuneaton were delighted to celebrate the planting of its third Peace Pole, this time at ARC School Ansley, a specialist school for pupils with autism and other emotional and learning difficulties.  As with the previous two poles we like to engage pupils in the project by asking them to either write a poem or select a published poem about what peace means to them and then vote upon it. The winning poem is then engraved on a plaque planted alongside the pole. Ansley’s poem was written by a Year 9 pupil and he read it out at the celebration ceremony, his words reflecting on how so many young people struggle to gain peace of mind in today’s conflicting and confusing world.  Another pupil read out Winston Churchill’s wartime “never surrender” speech which added to the reflective mood of the occasion. 

The pole is planted in a lovely clearing in the school grounds and provides the pupils with a quiet and peaceful spot in which to take time out to restore tranquillity and calmness during their school day.

Our Club will be planting two more poles in schools in the autumn term, so watch this space!