On Saturday, over 50 people from diverse backgrounds gathered in St Ethelwold’s garden, in Abingdon, to celebrate the dedication of a new peace pole. Councillor Gwyneth Lewis, the Mayor of Abingdon, expressed her full support for the initiative, highlighting Abingdon’s identity as a ‘town of peace.’ Her experiences with peace poles during her work with the United Nations has shown her their importance as a global symbol. Peace poles are simple monuments that carry a message of unity and hope.
The message on St Ethelwold’s Peace Pole is: ‘May Peace Prevail On Earth’. Alongside are translations in French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Welsh, and Irish Gaelic. (All six official languages of the United Nations and two other languages of the British Isles.)
The new peace pole in Abingdon joins countless others worldwide in an aspiration for peace.