THIRTY years after the Dunblane tragedy, when 16 children and their teacher, Gwen Mayor, were killed in a school shooting, the Minister of Dunblane Cathedral, the Revd Colin Renwick, said that people in the town “will, as they always have done, remember with quiet dignity and respect”.
Mr Renwick, who moved to the Church of Scotland cathedral 12 years ago, said: “It is important that people are given the space, opportunity, and peace to remember and grieve in ways that are appropriate to them.”
Dunblane Cathedral will be open until 8 p.m. on Friday, the day of the anniversary, for “quiet and respectful remembering”. Other churches in and around the town will also be open for prayers and reflections. Some in Dunblane are expected to place candles in their windows.
Mr Renwick will read a special prayer, referring to the shooting, in the cathedral on Sunday 15 March, which is Mothering Sunday.
The prayer includes a reference to the snowdrop campaign, led by the victims’ families, which eventually achieved a ban on private handgun ownership across the UK under the Labour government that came into office in 1997, a year after the massacre.
The prayer reads: “As the fragile snowdrop breaks through the cold winter earth, and somehow endures the elements that buffet it, we give thanks for the resilience of many, and for the determination, arising out of tragedy, that this country should be a safer place than it used to be. Amen.” Dunblane Cathedral contains a stone memorial to the victims of the shooting.
In a statement released by the Church of Scotland, Mr Renwick said: “For those people whose lives were shattered by the tragic events in Dunblane on March 13 1996, remembering is not confined to particular anniversaries. There are still those who, every day, think of a child they lost. Each birthday, each Christmas, the marriage of a sibling or contemporary, and many other events, still bring times of poignant remembering and wishing things had been different.”
He continued: “The 16 children of Dunblane who died that day, and the teacher who died trying to protect them, will never be forgotten. Nor will people forget the determination and persistence of those who campaigned so hard to ensure that the gun laws in the United Kingdom were changed, making this country a safer place.”
In England, St Peter’s, Cradley, will dedicate a snowdrop memorial to one of the schoolgirls who died in the massacre. Five-year-old Charlotte Dunn was one of those shot dead when the gunman entered the primary school’s gym. Her family had moved to Dunblane from Cradley, Halesowen, in the West Midlands, a few months before the killings, the BBC reported.
The church said that during a service on Friday afternoon it would be remembering all those who died.