Spring is making itself felt in Brandwood End. Not least in Section 10, cleared of Ivy by 202 Army Reserves last Autumn. It was worth the effort.
Author: Jane Edwards
Early ‘Great Spring Clean’.
Thank you to the 19 volunteers who helped remove 27 bags of ‘rubbish’ from the cemetery. Sadly lots of the rubbish consisted of windblown artificial flowers that had been swept far from their original graves by wind and squirrels. Our message is MAKE SURE ANY FLOWERS OR OFFERINGS ARE WELL SECURED. If you, or someone you know, have a grave in the cemetery we would advise that you check that all is OK. We have no idea which graves wind blown flowers come from so they find a home on the nearest grave or in the bin if they are in a poor state. 
March Litter Pick
Our March Litter Pick takes places this Saturday the 5th March. As usual this March we are taking part in the national Great British Spring Clean event that is organised by Keep Britain Tidy.
We will supply the pickers and bags, we just need your muscles ! Can we remind you that stout shoes are the order of the day and that children are welcome, but they must bring an adult with them.
Meet at 10am by the Lodge on the main drive.
City wide survey
Birmingham is undertaking surveys at the moment to see what the public think of their dealings with BCC staff etc. Last week the Friends took part with our views on our organisations interactions with Bereavements Service Department. Watch media sites- as they are reaching out via various organisations.
Hedgehogs in the news again.
Many of our followers and local residents were involved in our year long Hedgehog Project. Things are not looking too good for the Hedgehog !
According to a new State of Hedgehogs report, rural populations remain in decline but numbers are stabilising and even increasing in urban areas! We can all play our part in helping hedgehogs at home! Consider being part of a Hedgehog Highway and create a hole in your fence so they can roam freely in search of food at night. Leave out water, meaty dog or cat food, cat biscuits or specialist hedgehog food. Stop using chemicals in your garden and create a log pile which will attract insects and provide valuable shelter. Whilst there is a long way to go, we want to see hedgehog numbers increasing across the country!
Key Hill and Warstone Lane Cemeteries.
Oh how we wish we could secure the millions of funding that Key Hill and Warstone Lane cemeteries have, as it has enabled them to carry out so much practical work and also improve their digital presence. The ability to hire professionals to achieve results can be seen from their web site below. We would recommend one of their tours….but we would also like to recommend our own events!
Benches due to be brightened up.
Fear not… Our benches in the Civilian Garden of Remembrance have not been stolen. They are heading off to be refurbished. Hopefully they will be back in a week or two.
Commonwealth War Grave area
Regular visitors to Brandwood End are aware that we have a large number of Commonwealth War Graves but for some unknown reason a small number are placed together in an area in Section 33. We have tried, as have Bereavement Services staff, to find the reason why these flyers have been buried together, when all the other CWGC recognised graves are scattered throughout the cemetery. We are all unable to find any tie between them.
Following a recent visit from a representative of CWGC it was decided that the site needed to be refreshed, and we reported on the start of this work. This is an update and the turf is now in place. We suspect that not much will happen now until this turf has bedded in, but perennial planting should follow and continued maintenance by CWGC gardening staff.
Congratulations !
On the 6th February 1952 Princess Elizabeth at the age of 25, became Queen on the death of her father King George VI. Her Coronation in Westminster Abbey took place the following year on 2nd June 1953.
On 6th February 2022, Queen Elizabeth at the age of 95, will become the first British monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee, marking a 70-year reign.
Becketts Farm Shop Community Fund
You may remember that FBEC were asking you all to place your blue tokens in the box marked FBEC when you made purchases at Becketts Farm Shop. Over the last few months the tokens have increased and we were pleased to go along today to accept a cheque from Becketts Farm for our share of the funding, which amounted to £463 ! A big thank you to everyone that made the effort and a huge thank you to Becketts Farm for helping towards our next project.
Those of you that visit our Civilian Garden of Remembrance in section 33 will have noticed how shabby and worn our benches are so we will now have the funds to get them refurbished in time for the summer. They are greatly used and have lasted us well but are in desperate need of TLC !
Thank you all again.