On the 9th of August, we came together at the RoadPeace Wood in the National Memorial Arboretum for a deeply moving Ceremony of Remembrance. As part of remembering together, we are sharing this speech from the ceremony so that its message may continue to be heard and felt. Jeremy‘s words:

I have brought with me one of two artworks that are on permanent display at St. Martin in the Bull Ring, a very powerful way of highlighting the work of RoadPeace and importantly drawing attention to the tragedy of road death to the thousands who visit our building each week, and a beautiful, visual affirmation of the friendship and partnership between St. Martin’s and RoadPeace.

Mosaic is an extraordinarily ancient art form going back to the Mesopotamian civilization in the 3rd millennium BC. At one level it is deceptively simple but has been used by artists and civilizations through centuries to create extraordinary pictures and images that have lasted through history.

Our little mosaic might not quite compare with the great, floor mosaics found amongst the ruins of powerful civilizations but we are very proud of it nonetheless.

It was created by the amazing Birmingham Youth Justice Service – they worked with about half a dozen young people (aged 10-18) who had been involved in driving-related crime, and produced the mosaic as part of their reparation work, to better understand the impact their actions could have had.

The youth justice team got in touch with RoadPeace West Midlands during covid – they were frustrated young people involved in such driving-related crimes were being sent to do things like litter-pick. They wanted to work with RoadPeace to create something that would make these young people reflect more deeply about their actions and the potential consequences; to hopefully create a positive impact on their future driving habits and road behaviour. And so our little mosaic was formed.

Subsequently, this has developed into a growing relationship with the Youth Justice Service, and interaction with these young offenders, with occasional but significant letters being written back and forth between the young people and members of RoadPeace, and even occasional face-to-face restorative justice type meetings. And there have been other art projects too with large doves being created and displayed outside Birmingham cathedral grounds last year, and apparently there is a new collaboration about to come to fruition in a Garden of Remembrance in a park in Birmingham – if you would like to know more please speak to Lucy.

It has become a very significant, powerful and fruitful relationship with the invaluable and wonderful Youth Justice team.

But back to our mosaic… it is made of multiple little pieces of fractured stone or tile, in different colours, skilfully placed in some form of adhesive setting, to create this eye-catching picture – many small, broken, separate pieces coming together to create one beautiful image.

As I said it is deceptively simple….

What we have seen, heard and witnessed today in story, testimony, poetry and word – and what most of you have experienced in your lives – is the painful, all-consuming grief of lives broken, fragmented and shattered by the ongoing tragedy of road death.

What in your lives was whole, beautiful, special, unique and lovely has been shattered and at times it must feel like the pieces of your life lie scattered like broken fragments on the floor.

But like this mosaic your coming together creates something beautiful, something special, something lasting, something that makes a statement and tells a story.

Each piece, unique, special and – even though fragmented – containing a beauty and a possibility – each with its own colour or hue, reflecting light in different ways….

RoadPeace, the charity, the structure, the personnel, the resources, the values, vision and aspirations, provides a wonderful but simple frame within which a picture can be held together and created.

The glue, the adhesive, the compound into which each piece can be lovingly and carefully placed is – I think your compassion, your kindness, a culture and community of constant mutual support born out of common grief and shared experience, a commitment to one another, to listen quietly, to appreciate, to understand, to simply be there for one another….

And so the pieces come together – your stories, your experiences, your tragedies, your loved ones – each treated carefully, respectfully, thoughtfully, appreciatively, with dignity……

And together you start to create something – a picture made up of broken, fragmented lives.

Which forms a dove – and forms around the dove highlighting its shape and form – the dove, an almost universal symbol of peace and hope, the dove that represents who you are and what you have become a part of…

And like this little mosaic in our church, it is a picture that reminds you of the partnership, the friendship, the community of which you are now a part, and the community that will hold you, care for you and support you for however long you need and for however much you need.

And like this little mosaic in our church you become a constant and powerful reminder in a world that might so easily and quickly forget… of the tragic loss of life experienced by too many on our roads.

And the picture you create is a challenge to our society, to our laws, to those who govern, to our everyday attitudes to driving – a reminder that change can happen, change needs to happen, that change starts with me…

And the picture you have all created, together, is one of hope – a hope that out of something so broken and tragic, change will come, and a better future may evolve.

And what a beautiful pic

Updated on: 28 August 2025