SPECIAL roses keeping the memory of courageous Dunblane teacher Gwen Mayor and her slain pupils alive are being sought by gardeners from across Great Britain.

Orders for the Gwen Mayor rose - a beautiful peach and apricot Hybrid Tea - are coming in each day, and sales of the salmon coloured Innocence rose are also doing well.

A spokesman for James Cocker and Sons, who are selling the roses, said: "Orders are flowing in from all over the place. The roses have been written about in newspapers across the country and there is a lot of demand for them."

The roses were created as a tribute to brave Gwen and 16 of her pupils, who died in the school gym when attacked by crazed gunman Thomas Hamilton last year.

Each Gwen Mayor rose sold will raise £1.50 for the Gwen Mayor Trust, which has been set up to fund artistic, cultural, musical and sporting projects in Scottish primary schools. For each Innocence rose sold, the same amount will be donated to the Children's Hospice Association in Scotland - the charity chosen by the Dunblane victims' families.

The Gwen Mayor rose is said to signify everything about fun loving mum-of-two Gwen, who lived in Great Harwood with husband Rod before moving to Dunblane 25 years ago. The Innocence rose captures the colour, joy, exuberance, vulnerability and innocence that all children bring into our lives.

Anyone wishing to order a Gwen Mayor or Innocence rose should telephone 01224 313261 for an order form, or write to James Cocker and Sons, Whitemyers, Lang Stracht, Aberdeen, AB15 6XH.

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