Bench sponsorship lasts for 10 years. At the end of the 10-year sponsorship period the bench will be removed. We will contact you prior to the end of the sponsorship period and offer you the opportunity to renew sponsorship of the bench at the standard cost of bench sponsorship applicable at that time. This will include a new bench and plaque and a further sponsorship period of 10 years.

If we are unable to contact you, or no response is received within 1 month of the sponsorship ending, or you are no longer interested in continuing sponsorship, the bench location will become available for others to sponsor.

If we have benches available to sponsor, these can be found on our website. If you see a bench in a location you’d like, please complete the bench enquiry form and make your £2,200 donation when prompted.

We’ll contact you via email to confirm your bench and to discuss what wording you’d like on the plaque. We’ll then request a proof for you to view before placing the plaque order. You can let us know of any changes at this stage. Plaques typically take up to 2 weeks to be made and delivered once the proof has been agreed.

We’ll then be in touch to let you know when your bench is ready to visit, this will include a picture of the bench and map location.

Occasionally, we need to employ a waitlist if requests for bench sponsorship outnumber the number of benches that are available for sponsorship. Bench availability is reviewed on an annual basis and so it can take up to a year before we are able to release new bench spaces.

You can be added to our bench sponsorship waitlist by completing the bench enquiry form on the Friends’ website. We will confirm that you have been added to the waitlist and will use the email address provided to contact you should a bench become available.

From time to time, we may need to contact you with information regarding your bench such as temporary removal for maintenance. We will attempt to contact you via the most recent contact information we hold for you.

It is the responsibility of the bench sponsor to update the Friends of changes to contact information e.g. email address, phone number and postal address. We will attempt to contact you annually via email to prompt you to let us know of any changes to your contact information.

The plaque inscription message can be personalised with up to x5 lines of 23 characters (115 characters in total).

Please take care when choosing your plaque messaging, the plaque will remain on the bench throughout your 10-year sponsorship period. You will be able to review a proof before committing to ordering the plaque.

Please do not bring any personal items to surround or decorate the bench.

Yes, we provide a complimentary plaque cleaning kit at the Welcome Building should you wish to take care of your plaque. Please note we do not take responsibility for any discolouration of the bench or plaque that may naturally occur over time or when using a brass cleaner.