Cemeteries and Bereavement Services

Getting Started

There are friends’ groups already in existence at some of our sites. Contacting these groups would be a good starting point if you would like to get involved with your local community.

Here is a basic check list for establishing a friend’s group if one doesn’t exist in your local area, or for an existing group that has been inactive for a while:

• Firstly, contact Dignity. They are used to dealing with established groups and will be able to offer you support and guidance to get you started. Contact details are below.
• Talk about your ideas with local people and other cemetery users. They may have the same thoughts as you and may share other ideas to improve the cemetery.
• Arrange a gathering at the cemetery with other likeminded people you may have spoken to. This could be a small group of people, having a chat over a cup of coffee and a biscuit. Keep it informal and social.
• Take contact details of people who attend (with their permission) so you can communicate and stay in touch.
• Make a list of the things that you think work well, and the things that you would like to improve in your cemetery. There may be simple things that have been missed, that can be easily fixed and improved upon.
• Start by thinking about small improvements and projects, that can be easily achieved and would help to establish a group and give a sense of achievement in the short term.
• Think about longer term projects and improvements you could discuss with Dignity once your group has found their feet.
• Once your group starts to get established, you could plan and advertise for a public meeting to discuss your first proper steps, and to encourage more members to join. Contact the local press, Dignity and Bereavement Services to help with promotion.
• Create a website or social media profile.
• Arrange a gathering at the cemetery for your first practical event or project. Always ensure Dignity or Bereavement Services is informed and approved of your plans before carrying out any work.

What Your Group Can Do

Here are some small-scale ideas for your first practical event that other groups have successfully carried out:

• Removing ivy and overgrowth from around graves and memorials to improve the appearance of the site and unearth local history.
  • Some older graves may not be visited and tendered anymore, especially in some of the Victorian sites. These graves can suffer from ivy and brambles getting established in between the stonework. The grounds maintenance team do their best to stay on top of this, but all help is greatly received. Always contact Dignity before this kind of work is undertaken and they will speak to you about health and safety and disposal of green waste.
• Locating graves and recording memorial inscriptions.
  • Some of the members of our local friends’ groups are experts on the history of their cemetery, and through years of visiting the site have an in-depth knowledge of the people who are buried there and the lives they led. This can help other visitors to the site when trying to locate a loved one’s grave. Some groups have started cataloguing all the memorial inscriptions for future prosperity.
• Hold a talk or historical walk through the cemetery.
  • With the knowledge gained through years of visiting a cemetery, some of our groups hold public historical walks through their site, focusing on a grave or graves of note and historical importance. These tend to be well attended and are a method of acquiring funds for the group through donation.
• Introduce a new flower bed, or planting to improve the cemetery and encourage wildlife.
  • Green fingered members of your group could work collaboratively with Dignity to introduce a new flower bed, planted pots or wildlife friendly planting on site. The group would need to take responsibility for maintaining this over time.
• Work with a local or national wildlife organisation to introduce birdboxes, bat boxes and bug hotels on site.
  • This is a great activity for children and adults to undertake and simple to do and will over time improve the biodiversity of any site. Dignity and bereavement Services will assist with activities such as this and can offer expert advice from officers.

When your group has successfully established itself and maybe carried out several small-scale events or projects, you may want to consider formalising the group, assigning formal roles within the group, and writing a constitution, which will help when looking at longer term ideas and developing the group further, if that is what you wish to do. Dignity and Bereavement Services can assist with this and provide templates and guidance to get you to where you need to be.

Working Together

Friends Groups are encouraged to reach out to other organisations for help and support. Friend Groups should work collaboratively with Dignity, Glendale, and Bereavement Services to ensure projects are carried out safely, to a high standard and are inclusive of the needs of all our cemetery users.

Keeping Safe at Events

It is as important to ensure Health and Safety guidelines are followed, as it is to complete your planned projects and events. Always speak to Dignity or Bereavement Services before commencing any activities within the cemeteries, who will be able to offer guidance, advice, and blank templates to ensure everyone is safe and happy.

Although it is not essential, it is good practice to have a trained first aider to hand at practical events in case of minor injuries.

A risk assessment for the event must be completed by the friends of group prior to the start of every event. This does not have to be a daunting task with Dignity or Bereavement Services on hand to provide examples and help with completion. This can then be easily adapted for future events.

The things that should be considered are:

• Allocate someone to oversee the event, who may be familiar with Health and Safety, supervising events and familiar with first aid or first aid trained. Help can be given prior to the event and officers may attend to get you started.
• Have some method of reporting any accidents.
• A first aid kit must be available.
• Each volunteer must complete personal details form that includes any medical condition and emergency contact details.
• Consider children, vulnerable adults, and members of the public. Separate tasks may need to be allocated to certain volunteers.
• Weather and location. Are you on a flat surface, is the ground dry, is there a risk of slips, trips or falls from hight or ground level?
• Review any hand tools being used and assess them on high, medium, and low risk. Power tools are not allowed to be used on site by friends’ groups. If assistance is required by power tools, a request can be made to Dignity for assistance by Glendale Services.
• Check protective equipment is suitable e.g., gloves and footwear.
• Ensure appropriate instructions and training has been provided to each volunteer.
• Preparation – Before – During & After the event
• Public liability Insurance may be required.

Things to Keep in Mind

Before you start any projects or events in the cemetery, do be aware that certain categories of memorials may not be interfered with, some of these include:

• Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) headstones and private personal memorials in their care. You can Identify these by visiting the CWGC website. Further details below.
• Listed memorials of National historic/architectural importance
• Where perpetual rights of maintenance have been purchased by the grave owner
• Memorials where there is a registered owner, where there is a right in title.

Before starting any work, Dignity will be able to offer advice in these specific areas and will inform you of the correct procedure to inform them of any unstable memorial or monument that may be encountered.

Wildlife Within the Cemeteries

It is important to establish the right balance between maintaining a cemetery and providing a haven for local wildlife. This is more important in some of our older Victorian sites, that have naturalised areas, teeming with wildlife.

It also important to ask for help from your local Wildlife Trust, RSPB, Naturalists society and biodiversity groups so that it is clear when and what can be maintained at the right time of the year. Birds are usually nesting in the UK between March and August and so minimal disturbance is required during this period.

Friends of Groups should seek advice from their local authority to check if there are any special circumstances around the cemetery.

RMBC officers may be available to help with identifying different species of flora and fauna on site and could assist with planning wildlife related events, e.g., dawn chorus walks, bird spotting, and implementing bird feeders and other methods of increasing the biodiversity of each site. Please contact Bereavement Services for further help.