Staff at Kings Norton Cemetery held their third Macmillan Coffee Morning last Sunday and raised close to £550 for the charity.
Not only were there sandwiches but cupcakes, tray bakes, and scones with cream and jam! No wonder they managed to raise so much….good effort all round.
We all breathed a sigh of relief to see that the weather was dry this morning for the Friends to welcome over 20 people to the ‘official’ unveiling of our Civilian Garden of Remembrance. Our thanks to Councillor Eva Phillips who made a short speech about the uncertainties in the World today and the value of peace internationally. We all hope that we may see a time when there is no need for ‘civilian dead’ to be laid to rest following conflict.
Eva then cut the ribbon and declared that the garden refurbishment was now officially completed.
Our thanks to our anonymous donor, who meant that we were able to engage horticulturalist Darren Rudge with a team of his ‘Homebase’ students to complete the work. I am sure all our visitors today agree that the garden looks a picture!
Afterwards we all made our way to the Lodge and enjoyed a leisurely cup of tea and some excellent home made cake (thank you Coral!)
Well done Darren and his team!
We are still celebrating being awarded a ‘Silver Gilt’ medal by the RHS for Heart of England in Bloom! We now have the certificate and here is a photo of it in our hands as proof!
Yet again can we take the opportunity to thank Nicola for her suggestion that we enter, the RHS for including Cemetery entries this year and everyone that works so hard to keep Brandwood End looking at its best both ‘in bloom’ and also on more practical levels.
The Friends entered the RHS, Heart of England in Bloom this year without great expectations, as it was the first year that a category for ‘Cemeteries’ under ‘Parks and Open Spaces’ had been included…….and our first foray into this prestigious award.
Today we traveled to the Awards Ceremony in Aldridge and to our great joy we achieved a ‘Silver Gilt’ Certificate !
Excuse the picture quality but I was so excited to post a copy of the certificate and thank everyone concerned. Over the year, our small band of volunteers have worked hard on many aspects within the cemetery to enhance the experience of those that visit- for whatever reason. During the few weeks before the Judges visit everyone pulled out the stops. Our thanks to Quadron for cutting the grass, the ground staff for emptying the bins and the general appearance of the cemetery, community members for helping with weeding , the phantom ‘hedge cutters’, all those who supplied photographs and all those that wished us luck! It paid off………..
These posters were on display at the event and caught our eye, especially as each one was 6′ tall!
We all had such a marvelous welcome with a jazz band and then a choir and everyone was made to feel really special. The awards were followed by a lovely lunch which Julia and I ate sitting in the beautiful churchyard adjacent to event. Thank you all again. Jane Edwards (Chairman- FBEC)
Anyone who supports the Friends will know that due to a kind donation we have been able to refurbish the Civilian Garden of Remembrance to make future maintenance a little easier for our small number of dedicated volunteers.
We do hope people will join us for its unveiling on Saturday the 24th September at 10am, followed by tea and cake in the Lodge. (Be aware that the cemetery does not officially open till 10am on a Saturday)
We were all watching the rain filled skies with trepidation this afternoon as we held our launch event for our Heritage Lottery funded ‘Help for Hedgehogs’ project.
Jan, the Ranger and Gareth from Birmingham and Black Country Wildlife Trust set up their displays but we did not hold out too much hope as the rain got heavier and heavier but we were all in for a surprise!
Even before we had set everything up the rain eased and families began to arrive !
Jan chatted to everyone about Hedgehogs before leading them off on a trail to find interesting ‘Hedgehog’ facts and then everyone collected suitable twigs and cones to make their very own Hedgehog.
I think you can tell from the faces below how the ‘make your own Hedgehog’ activity went!!
Our thanks to the 30+ people who disregarded the awful weather and we hope you will all come back (with your friends!) to our next event on October 25th in Half Term.
Our thanks to the 5 volunteers that turned out to our most recent litter pick in very damp conditions (turning to heavy rain!) Never the less, 6 bags of litter were collected- mainly flower papers.
Whilst litter picking we encounter many artificial bouquets of flowers that have blown off graves and lie abandoned on grassed areas. We place these back on ‘nearby’ graves, but they may not be the correct ones- so our apologies if your artificial flowers appear to have moved elsewhere. We have no way of knowing where they have blown from and if not removed from the grass, they will be shredded by the large grass cutting machines and create not only an unsightly mess but a hazard to wildlife. If you leave artificial flowers at a grave site please ensure they are secured. Thank you.
This Saturday 3rd September, meet at the Lodge on the main drive of Brandwood End Cemetery. Bags and pickers provided but stout footwear and gloves advisable. 10-11.30am
Bags and pickers provided but stout footwear and gloves advisable. 10-11.30am
The Friends of Brandwood End Cemetery are excited to announce that we have been successful in a bid to the National Lottery (Heritage Lottery Fund) to undertake a ‘Help for Hedgehogs’ project in Brandwood End Cemetery and the surrounding area. The project will be delivered for us by The Wildlife Trust (Birmingham and Black Country) and the Ranger Service who will be offering events and workshops, over the next year, to encourage local residents to improve Hedgehog habitat and also surveying the cemetery for Hedgehog activity.
Please come along and support this event and learn why Hedgehogs are in dramatic decline and what YOU can do to increase the local population.
Some of these events will be family orientated and other will be of a more serious nature, for those of you that want to learn how to and participate in surveying for Hedgehogs. Come along to the launch and find out more!
As those of you who have relatives in Brandwood End know, we have very close links with the much newer cemetery at Kings Norton as this is where all the Bereavement Service Staff and Ground Staff who service both cemeteries are based. They have an event coming up for anyone who may have an interest in Kings Norton Cemetery.
Primrose Meadow- Natural Burial Site- September 9th 11am-13:00– Consultation Event.
Here at our award winning cemetery in Kings Norton we offer the facility of a natural burial site – Primrose Meadow. Established in 2012 the meadow is still in its infancy stage and as it develops we would like to the views of all stakeholders as to developments in the future. For those interested in natural burials we have staff on hand to guide you through the protocols of a natural burial. A range of environmental projects are attending for those simply interested in wildlife and wildflowers.