Auckland AIDS memorial Circle of Friends is urgently in need of volunteers and fundraising for its upkeep. Can you help? We talk to founder Kaye Wilson about the history of this life-affirming garden of memories. How long has the Circle been around now? About six years. We lobbied the Auckland City Council and got a portion of land in Western Springs lakeside park which is just beautiful, it's got native trees all around it. It's basically in the shape of a spiral, of a koru [symbolising] new life. My husband Todd and I came up with the idea when we lost our brother in San Francisco in 1986. In the Golden Gate Park they have an AIDS Memorial Circle of Friends, and they allowed us to borrow their template. They're really part of the family down here in New Zealand, the New Zealand Circle is the only other one in the world apart from the American one. What's the aim of the Circle? The aim of the circle is that it's not a place to go and mourn, it's meant to be a place to go and remember. It's for those who have suffered, those who have loved them and those who are still here, so anyone can have their name engraved in the circle. Our whole family's names are engraved in the circle, we lost one brother and all of our names are around him. A lot of people who are still alive today have their names engraved, so it has a double purpose – a place to go and remember, a place to go and celebrate life, its really lovely and tranquil. In fact, a couple of months ago we had a young couple call and ask if it was OK to get married there because its so gorgeous. We were thrilled that people were going there to celebrate their lives. How many names are on there now? Between 60 and 70, at the moment. We've had three engravings in the last two years, which is really good in a way, that not so many people are passing over. But maybe it's because we're not letting people know, so that's why we're starting a campaign with the help of the AIDS Foundation to get our name back out there again. We were hot and heavy when we first opened, and then it sort of petered off, so now we have to get right back into it and remind people that we're still there. Are there new names being added all the time? We only engrave once a year, and it's this time of the year we have to engrave because we have to get the heavy generators and trucks and stuff in there to do it, and the Council won't let us do it if the grass is wet. So what's the next stage for the project now? Continuing to fundraise, actually, we need to fundraise because we need to keep improving the garden, keep replanting, cleaning, maintenance is very important. Insurance is very expensive, so we need to build up our own fund, which is what our next fundraising stage is. We need volunteers too, at the moment Todd and I are the only two that go down and wash it and weed it and things like that. With the help of the AIDS Foundation, we're calling for volunteers to go on a roster to help us with that work, because it's quite intensive. There's also a bit of admin work with requests for engravings and money coming in. Volunteers can contact Kaye Wilson on (09) 379 1199 or write to Circle of Friends, PO Box 911185 AMC, Auckland 1030. Chris Banks - 24th March 2006