Liverpool visitor attraction Strawberry Field unveils monument as a ‘symbol of hope’ to the people of Ukraine. Tony McDonough reports

Liverpool visitor attraction Strawberry Field has unveiled a monument adorned with a Ukrainian flag dedicated to “bringing peace and hope”.

As the world’s focus turns to Liverpool for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, the Ukrainian Peace Monument – measuring 16ft tall – will be a temporary feature at the popular visitor attraction.

Located at the site of a former Salvation Army children’s home immortalised by John Lennon in The Beatles’ hit, Strawberry Fields Forever, Strawberry Field is a visitor attraction in south Liverpool.

Cast in aluminium, the statue depicts a man holding aloft a book, dove and the Ukrainian flag, with messages in keeping with John Lennon’s famous anti-war anthem,‘Give Peace a Chance’ using the power of music to unite countries everywhere.

It will be a temporary feature at Strawberry Field and will then move to Ukraine at a future date as a permanent monument when it is safe to do so.

Forever, the Ukrainian Peace Monument was created by 16-year-old Mexican art prodigy, Osbelit Garcia-Morales. After a worldwide search in 2022, a California-based artist coalition called the Global Peace Initiative awarded Osbelit the commission to design the sculpture.

It joins a number of symbols of peace located within the grounds of Strawberry Field, including the new Strawberry Field Bandstand, one of the most technologically advanced bandstands in the world.

It is based upon the drum featured on The Beatles’ iconic album cover, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

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The bandstand – a donation from Cliff Cooper, chief executive of Orange Amps and honorary patron of the Strawberry Field project – features a larger replica of the ‘Imagine’ mosaic in Central Park’s Strawberry Fields memorial in New York.

Kathy Versfeld, the Salvation Army’s mission director at Strawberry Field, said: “The Ukrainian Peace Monument invites our guests to make a stand for peace, whoever they are, wherever they are – sentiments that John Lennon lived and breathed throughout his life.

“The monument is a beautiful new symbol of hope for Ukraine, and it will be a reminder to the rest of the world of the path to peace: serve, share, forgive, dialogue.

“Strawberry Field is honoured to be the custodians of the monument until it can make its final journey to Ukraine, fulfilling the wishes of the Global Peace Initiative which aims to reduce violence and conflict around the world.”