Delivering Love

22 years ago today 16 tiny children and their faithful teacher were shot dead in the gym hall of their school. Their average age was 5. The image of their primary 1 class photo seared on the minds of all of us who remember that day with agonising clarity. Who can ever forget the sight of desperate parents rushing to the school gates with a fear in their eyes that would still the most hardened of hearts. This was the infant class. In American terms, the kindergarten, the babies of the school world. Those tiny souls with frills on socks, ribbons on hair and shirt tails permanently on the loose. Life was only at the very beginning for these babies.

Interestingly Scotland’s  own Andy and Jamie Murray attended this school and were present on the day of the massacre. Andy narrowly escaping the gunman as his class were en-route to the gym hall as the shootings began. He rarely mentions the experience but it is obvious to all who know him that he holds enormous reverence for his lost school mates and the tragedy which in his words ‘changed his life’.

Nothing will change the events of that awful spring day, nothing. No words or tributes will bring back even one of those beautiful little souls. But Scotland is not a country that sits back and watches on as it’s babies are murdered in their school by a maniac wielding a legally held handgun. Anne Pearston was the woman who said ‘no more’. Thus the Snowdrop Campaign was founded. Named after the beautiful and tiny first blooms of spring that sprout forth in Scottish gardens and parks during the month of March. Beautiful, petite, delicate but enormously resilient little flowers that can withstand the snow and frost as well as the sun that March weather so often brings to us here in Scotland . Emulating beautifully the spirit of a young child. Much like the little babies of Dunblane they do not stay with us long but their impact, although small in stature, is profound.

The snowdrop signifies the beginning of spring. The hope of sunshine, longer days and relief from the cold and chill of the dark winter months. It’s a little promise of what is to come. Sadly for the tiny children of Gwen Mayor’s class they were not given the chance to see the spring. Most of them are buried alongside their teacher in Dunblane Cemetery , forever reminding us of how vulnerable our children are and how cruel the world can be.

I feel blessed that in this United Kingdom we do not allow our children to die in vain. The public outcry was fierce. The trauma too great to withstand without some action, without some legacy on behalf of every little life lost that day in Dunblane Primary School. In 1997 The Firearms Amendment Acts (1 and then 2) were introduced in Scotland , England and Wales banning forever all cartridge ammunition handguns. As far as it depends on us no more babies will be murdered in their gym shoes while playing duck, duck, goose and being 5. No more teachers will live forever in torment with bullet wounds and survivors guilt. WE SAID NO MORE ! We meant it.

As other countries of the world grapple with divided opinions on the legality of bearing arms,I am proud to be part of a nation that could see nothing past those little lives snuffed out. While many in these nations will argue the merits of such a ban Scotland can say with hand on heart that 22 years later we have not endured another mass shooting. We have not lost another room full of precious angels. We got it right.

There is no doubt that on this sombre anniversary we all will hold our children a little tighter. We all will think in sadness of the unfillable loss experienced by all those who lost a loved one that awful March morning in 1996. We will think with deep sorrow of the first responders, forever altered by the sight that greeted them on entering the gymnasium, the blood bath of broken little bodies, many screaming for mummy’s and daddy’s and many who would never make a sound again. It is a tragedy that must never be forgotten and it’s legacy of change and determination to protect must be learned from.

To all those little Snowdrops in heaven, and their beautiful teacher I pray your peace is great and your happiness is absolute.

In Memory of

Gwen Mayor (Teacher)

Victoria Clydesdale age 5

Emma Crozier age 5

Melissa Currie age 5

Charlotte Dunn age 5

Kevin Hasell age 5

Ross Irvine age 5

David Kerr age 5

Mhairi MacBeath age 5

Brett McKinnon age 6

Abigail McLennan  age 5

Emily Morton age 5

Sophie North age 5

John Petrie age 5

Joanna Ross age 5

Hannah Scott age 5

Megan Turner age 5