// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
Arboretum's name change faces veterans' backlash
The name is expected to be changed at the end of September
National Memorial Arboretum's name change this month has been called "diminishing" and "unnecessary" by some visitors, including veterans.
Plans for the new name, Royal British Legion National Remembrance Gardens, were announced in April. The armed forces charity said it was to reflect the arboretum's full integration with RBL and broaden public engagement.
About 25,000 people signed a petition against the move, including Royal Air Force veteran Paul Cornhill, who visits the site in Alrewas, Staffordshire, to remember his stillborn daughter.
"I've decided it's a step too far to change the name to what they want," said Cornhill, from Tamworth, vowing not to attend future Remembrance services.
Paul Cornhill visits the National Memorial Arboretum to remember his stillborn daughter
There are 420 memorials at the 150-acre site, which honours the service and sacrifice of the armed forces, emergency services and other civilian organisations, including the Sands charity's baby loss memorial.
Cornhill said enduring the loss of a stillborn baby had been difficult, but he described the Sands memorial as "a good place to go for a think and sit down and talk and have a bit of a cry even".
The petition claimed the arboretum's name change "undermines its rich heritage and the deep emotional connections many have with it".
David Willis, a Royal Navy veteran of 39 years from Polesworth, Warwickshire, said he visits to remember patients he treated as a medic.