About 30 people gathered at the rose garden in Mosgiel Memorial Gardens in Gordon Rd on Saturday to replant the suicide remembrance tree.
The tree had originally been planted in 2017 by suicide prevention advocate Nikki Cockburn, whose boyfriend had died by suicide in 2002 five days after his 19th birthday.
Ms Cockburn was also 19 at the time.
She ran a suicide prevention charity called Through the Other Side Trust from 2017 to 2021 which she had to close because of ill-health.
But when a friend told her the tree had been levelled after being damaged in the destructive winds in October last year, she wanted to get it replanted.
Ms Cockburn said the Dunedin City Council had sourced a tree from Nichol’s Garden Centre which had supplied the original in 2017.
She said it was important to replant the tree because it was a good place for people to go to reflect and remember loved ones who had died by suicide.
"It’s just a place for people to sit and reflect and I know that when my partner died when I was 19 I went to the cemetery a lot and I would spend a lot of time there.
"I just found it therapeutic."
She hoped other people would find a similar solitude where the tree was planted.
"It’s just a nice place to go ... to think and to talk."
People brought notes and photos of their loved ones to the tree planting, which was supported by motorcycle club Tribal Nations Otago.
After her boyfriend’s suicide Ms Cockburn wrote a book that was distributed in 254 New Zealand high schools.
Although her trust had ceased she was continuing her work in remembrance of him.
Help available
Healthline 0800 611 116
Lifeline Aotearoa 0800 543 354
Suicide Crisis Helpline: 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO)
Samaritans 0800 726 666
