West Yorkshire woman creates 22 'Remembugs' to honour Manchester Arena victims

Ashlee Holt 29, created the Remembugs project in 2019 - a painted pebble in the form of a ladybird, with each named after someone who has passed away.

Ashlee, from Bradford, and a group of volunteers around West Yorkshire leave the pebbles in busy public places with a poem explaining they have been made in honour of someone.

She paints the stones in her spare time and then tracks their journey through Facebook and social media as finders are encouraged to hide them again.

There are now more than 3,000 Remembugs around the country, with some reaching further afield globally including in Africa, Australia and beyond.

Ashlee told the YEP: "In 2019 I created the remembugs project.

"The idea is simple, a painted pebble in the form of a ladybird each named after someone in heaven.

"We leave them in busy public places with a poem explaining they have been made in honour of someone and we want to see how far they travel.

"I paint them free of charge in my spare time and offer them under name to claim posts on the main Facebook group, once you have named one and I have found a nice spot to start their adventure, the public who find them will join our page and post where they were found and where they are heading.

"The public love our little remembugs and the finders get really involved with our group, putting effort into their posts and helping heal a stranger."

Ashlee's latest designs honour the 22 people killed in the arena attack - including Leeds victims Sorrell Leczkowski and Wendy Fawell.

She said some of the bereaved families had got in touch to praise the idea.

Ashlee told the YEP: "I have made one for each victim.

"They will be starting their journey this weekend and a few of the family members have got in touch."