Remembering Stephen Broe
We are all grieving the death of a very special community member, Stephen Broe. Steve died yesterday with his brother and sister present, having been visited by a stream of friends in the last few days.
Steve will be deeply missed by so many. He was a musician, a community organiser, a gardener, an activist, a carpenter and so many things. He led a remarkable life. Steve’s wisdom, kindness and love shone out of him and touched everyone he met. Introduced to our project by our mutual dear friend Jarek, in the Autumn when we moved in, Steve quickly became instrumental in helping us all settle into the museum’s site and bringing his exceptional knowledge to bear on what needed doing on the site and in what spirit.
Our crew with Steve on the day we planted 250 saplings on the site
To us as the co-directors of the museum, Steve was a mentor in helping us build and hold community in the space and take the right approach to the site, especially the outdoors. One night he gave a blessing to the museum, using the allegory of a tree with deep roots and many branches. He said that even though it is just one organisation, on this site it could take root, spread out many branches and give shelter to thousands in the coming years.
Steve gives his blessing to the site, November 2023
Even after Steve lost the ability to play his guitar, which as anyone who knew him will understand how devastating that would be for him, he found ways to channel his creativity. He helped advise our crew member Harry on setting up music sessions in the space and one week he spent his last £3 on a guitar which now lives in the museum.
Steve’s sketches for one of the walls “the memorial place for all those gone before us”
Stephen was instrumental in the garden design and very keen for us to make a pond, which we since have and it is flourishing with resident ducks and lots of wildlife. He also designed two red brick curved walls for the garden, one as a ‘welcome hug’ on the entrance to the site and one to ‘remember those who have passed before us’ which will be situated in our sacred area. Although he could no longer lay the bricks himself, we found a contractor who was able to work collaboratively and build one of the walls to Steve’s design. This was finished this Spring and Steve was delighted with it.
Steve also asked us to source a Yew tree for our sacred memorial area of the garden which, as he told the workshop group, can be found in every Christian churchyard in the UK and has sacred meanings for earlier wisdom traditions. We have since sourced a Yew tree via our Patron the Rt Rev Nicholas Holtam and the Conservation Foundation which will be planted later in the year.
Steve taught us the value of patience and making a caring relationship with the land we have been given the gift of stewarding. He advised us to spend a full year on site, really getting to know the garden and what it needs rather than forcing lots of plants in too quickly. This loving, patient and nurturing approach is one which we will try and thread through everything we do at Museum of Homelessness.
Steve’s spirit will always live on at our site, as in so many other places. We only worked with him for such a short time and we desperately wish we could have had the privilege of more moments with him, but we are grateful that he gave us so much in that time. Rest in Power, brother. Jess and Matt Turtle. X
Plans are being made to remember Stephen and when there is more information we will share here.