Woronora Cemetery provides a tranquil setting that the community can enjoy in various ways such as jogging and dog walking, admiring the beautiful rose gardens, and sitting down for coffee and cake at the Forget Me Not cafe.

Families have been coming here for 150 years to connect with their loved ones and enjoy the peace and quiet of the surrounds.

People who are not regular visitors are encouraged to come to the cemetery's open day on Saturday, April 10, as part of the National Trust Heritage Month celebrations.

The open day will include morning tea and a tour of the cemetery and its landscaped gardens.

At 1pm on Sunday, April 11, the cemetery will officially open The Doorway of Hope, which is billed as the first monument of its kind in Australia.

The Doorway of Hope is about honouring missing persons and offering comfort to their families and friends.

Every 15 minutes, someone in Australia is reported as a missing person, adding up to more than 35,000 missing persons every year.

Although 86percent of these people are found within one week, an alarming 1 per cent (350 people) are never found.

There are more than 1600 long-term missing persons in Australia. For each missing person, it is believed that at least 12 people are affected directly.

Woronora Cemetery's chief executive officer, Graham Boyd, said The Doorway of Hope, which culminated in a water feature, would provide comfort and healing to those affected by giving them a place to go to remember their missing loved ones.

They would be able to place glass plaques containing photos and messages on the water feature and on the raised-garden beds.

``We have invested much research and time into this monument, '' Mr Boyd said.