National Memorial Arboretum

The NMA is the UK’s year-round centre of Remembrance; a spiritually uplifting place which honours the fallen, recognises service and sacrifice and fosters pride in our country. A new £15.7m Remembrance Centre engages materially with its environment with a soft material concept of larch timber and natural stone. The centre provides a gateway into the 150-acre arboretum and is also home to exhibition, interpretation and retail spaces, restaurant, café and learning centre.

The Remembrance Centre has been well received by the local community – visitor numbers are up by 59%, catering income is up by 79% and retail income is up 73% after the first few months since opening.

The NMA is not and was never owned by government or private company. It was created and run by volunteers who numbered thousands, as well as a small paid group, a steadfast Friends of the National Memorial Arboretum and numerous others who planted individual trees or helped create a memorial for their organisation.

Civic Voice has contacts with the National Memorial Arboretum and would be happy to facilitate visits for civic societies to learn more how the new contemporary Remembrance Centre has transformed the National Memorial Arboretum's visitor offer by providing a warm and inviting space for reflection, memorial and the celebration of life, to be enjoyed by people from all walks of life and from all generations.