National Federation of Cemetery Friends




On this page you will find a summary of updates and information notices.

Browse around the site, we cover safety in cemeteries, a picture gallery, a list of our members and news items from various Friends groups. Our Events and Walks page is a popular feature.



Look out for Open Days when our members organise walks, displays etc
Members can normally book a space for a display or table and are advised to contact the hosting group as early as possible to make arrangements.



Date of last update 1st July 2009


Exhibition by Memorial Arts Charity please see the Events page

Memorial Safety frequently asked Q and A's
The Ministry of Justice has produced guidance to cemetery visitors and cemetery managers see the Safety in Cemeteries page on this website

 New publication by the National Federation of Cemetery Friends  A revised and enlarged edition of Saving Cemeteries is now available. This book is designed to help:
• If you have a cemetery in your area that is under threat or may become so but are not sure what to do
• If you want to set up a cemetery friends group and need a list of procedures
• If your group is looking to develop with activities and fundraising
The book contains guidance on all the aspects of setting up a Friends Group (indeed, it would be of value to non-cemetery related groups too) as well as case studies, and is generously illustrated.

Saving Cemeteries – a Handbook for Cemetery Friends. 112 pp.
ISBN 978-0-9529780-1-5
Price: £5.00 + £1 p&p (£3.00 + £1 p&p to members)


Copies of the book are available from the NFCF secretary Gwyneth Stokes  please make cheque payable to NFCF  and send to NFCF 42 Chestnut Grove, South Croydon CR2 7LH

Cruise -bereavement support charity. Cruise are this year celebrating 50 years of bereavement care with a special Grief Relief Appeal. The Annual Conference is at the Universityof Warwick in July and local area and branches are holding Golden Jubilee events. Details on: www.crusebereavementcare.org.uk

The 2010 Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowships: Applications are are now open for UK citizens to travel overseas to undertake study projects. The ten categories include Environment and Conservation. See website www.wcmt.org.uk

No stakes, no topple testers says Ministry guidance
Cemetery friends will welcome the publication of the much needed guidance to local authorities on the safety of burial ground monuments which discourages staking, the laying down of memorial stones and the use of mechanical test instruments.
Justice Minister Bridget Prentice in announcing this report commented that too many burial ground operators were taking these actions when there was no serious risk to the public. The new guidance makes it clear this should only be done as a last resort.
The full report – ‘Managing the safety of burial ground memorials’ – can be seen on the Ministry of Justice website at
http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/safety-burial-grounds.htm or the booklet obtained from Brian.Webb@justice.gsi.gov.uk

Has your cemetery a chapel at risk?
The NFCF is supporting the Victorian Society in initiating an England and Wales survey of cemetery chapels at risk. They want to know how many are boarded up or derelict and also hear of well maintained chapels and any converted to another use. The form for submitting information is available from the Victorian Society at their website: www.victorian-society.org.uk

Paradise Preserved a publication by English Heritage to obtain a pdf download of the publication click here

Minutes of the Funerary Monuments Group for a meeting held on 20th January 2009 are published on the FMG page.

New publication by Friends of Southampton Old Cemetery A booklet prepared with the assistance of Professor James Stevens Curl on the work and life of John Claudius Loudon is available at £4 inc postage. Send cheque to Friends of Southampton Old Cemetery, 31 Lilac Road, Southampton SO16 3DA. Loudon produced authorative work on the design and layout of cemeteries and assisted in the design of Bath Abbey and Histon Road, Cambridge.


New publication "The Victorian Cemetery"  Several member groups were in contact with Dr Sarah Rutherford earlier in the year when she was gathering research material for a new Shire Book. The book, published November 2008, is retailed at £5-99 but for a limited period on offer from Amazon at the special price of £4-79, post free if total order exceeds £5. Click here for details.

Community groups urged to apply for Government cash
Whether it's helping local clubs get hold of new kit, coaching new volunteers or simply giving a community space a fresh lick of paint, Grassroots Grants aim to make a real and immediate difference to the work of any small and local community groups with annual incomes below £20,000.   The programme, funded by the Office of The Third Sector in the Cabinet Office and administered by the Community Development Foundation, offers grants of between £250 and £5,000 to support activities that lie right at the heart of our local communities.

To keep the process as simple and easy as possible for applicants, the money is being distributed directly through local funders. 

Local, regional and national businesses are also invited to get involved through investing in the scheme's innovative endowment match challenge; the first of its kind in England.

Within the programme, the Government has set aside a £50million pot from which it will match endowment investments from businesses. This offers businesses the chance to contribute directly to supporting and sustaining the communities in which they operate.
Contact for further information:

Lesley Chambers
Head of Grassroots Grants
Lesley.Chambers@cdf.org.uk

  
New restoration project see the image of the recently restored cemetery gates at Belgrave Cemetery Leicester on the Examples of Restoration page





Cemetery under threat if the Heathrow Runway is built  Cherry Lane Cemetery, London Borough of Hillingdon. In the maps provided by BAA, the proposed dual carriageway road to support the expansion will be put straight through the cemetery. The cemetery has 37 "war graves" under the care of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. A petition to the Prime Minister opposing any interference with cemetery has been posted on the internet. To register your opposition http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/CherryLane



  The 2009 AGM will be hosted by Friends of Houghton Hillside Cemetery.

A new page has been added Interesting Graves and members can add a photo and biographical detail of a grave from their cemetery and hopefully this will bring a variety of feature graves from all parts of the UK. There are a few entries to start the ball rolling....

Members can assist in cancer research by supplying yew cuttings to specialist contractors [see our page on yew trees]



 Glossary  a new page on terms used in cemetery and burial circles is being introduced
    

The website has been selected by the British Library for the UK Website Archive



Members of the NFCF are requested to submit news items, details of events and images suitable for use on the site.
To contact John G. Avery web master click the picture


Grateful thanks to kingofcoleslaw@morguefile.com for the use of the header picture [Highgate Cemetery] on this site


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National Federation of Cemetery Friends respect the privacy of persons contacting us and will pass on at your request your contact details to a member group or organisation but we do not supply these details to third parties. E-mail addresses
are not displayed on screen but are available as Send to links. In a few cases contact to a local group is via the Secretary of the Federation.


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