Category: Community

Anzac day Remembrance

The 25th April is known in many countries as ANZAC Day. Events are held in Australia, New Zealand, the U. K., Ireland and many other countries to honour those who served in this ill fated campaign of the First World War. Many of those who served made the ultimate sacrifice.
Join us to commemorate Gallipoli/ANZAC Day in the “Second City” on
Sunday 21st April 2024, 2.00pm (meet at the Cross of Sacrifice on the main drive).
Brandwood End Cemetery, Woodthorpe Road, Kings Heath,
Birmingham, B146EQ.
Following a brief service there will be an opportunity to learn more about the burials linked to this event in Brandwood End. (Stout footwear is advisable).

Volunteer work recognised.

The chart below shows the number of volunteer hours worked  in Birmingham by Friends groups attached to various open spaces. ie: Parks, cemeteries, recreation grounds etc.

Its lucky that volunteers generally enjoy their work and get a lot of satisfaction out of it- but they manage to save Birmingham Council millions of pounds. Imagine if you added ALL the volunteer hours in all sectors together………..

FBEC AGM 2024

Today the Friends held their 19th annual AGM. Where has that time gone?

What a lovely morning with some of our supporters. It was made even better by cake and coffee (Provided by Vice Chairman Coral)  with a chance to chat and also a chance to thank members and everyone that supports us.

Our committee members are now:-

Chairman             Julia Griffin

Vice Chairman    Coral Howard

Secretary              Jane Edwards

Treasurer             Julian Pritchard

Philip Brown, Gill Price, Tricia Winspur, Lisa Fair and observer Malcolm Jacques. (Some of our committee members appear in the lead photograph. )

We have had a very busy year and trust that this will continue into what will next be our 20th anniversary AGM.

 

Hard work, but lots of achieved.

We had a great turn out today for our ‘Grave Gardeners’ session. Volunteers drawn from several of our supporting groups , regular volunteers and some new recruits worked from 12 noon till 3pm and cleared a large area on the main drive of small Holly self setters. This was an area that we cleared larger plants from about 5 years ago but smaller saplings had begun to take over again.

After a quick tea break we carried on along the Broad Lane side of the cemetery, removing ground level brambles that were threatening to engulf or young Cherry Trees, taking extra care not to venture near any areas that might hide nesting birds. Our next date should be Saturday 13th April but watch this page for more details.

 

Grave Gardeners Session

FINAL REMINDER, SATURDAY 30TH MARCH 1pm-3pm- This Saturday the 30th March we will be holding a Gardening Session to try and clear some more Brambles and self set Holly in the Cemetery. Unlike our usual sessions that target large areas of mature Holly and Ivy, we are concentrating on areas where we represent no risk of disturbing nesting birds.

We will meet at the Cross of Sacrifice at 1pm and helpers are free to spend as much or as little time as they wish on site but we will be completing our work by 3pm to allow for the closing of the site at 4pm. We have the tools and some heavy duty gloves but would advise that you wear heavy duty footwear and warm clothing. We will be moving away from the area of the Cross but should be visible in our High Viz. If we are not there, try turning left at the WW1 memorial, passing the fenced area and looking to your right.(Section 38RC)

This map may help.

Cross and Screen Walls repaired and cleaned.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission have been busy cleaning and repairing the Cross of Sacrifice and the Screen Walls as part of their maintenance programme. All looking clean, tidy and ready for the 125 year anniversary of the first funeral in Brandwood End Cemetery on the 13th April 1899. (We will be posting more about this anniversary nearer the date.)

 

AGM 2024

The Friends are ’19’ this year and we will be holding our usual AGM but this year it will be back to an old venue as the Lodge at Brandwood End is out of use.

THURSDAY 11TH APRIL THE CONFERENCE ROOM , ST DUNSTANS CHURCH, KINGS HEATH.B14 7JN

10.30 start– Usually the AGM lasts about 20 minutes and then the committee are available to chat and answer your questions.

(This is best accessed on foot from Kingsfield road opposite All Saints Church. Parking is available in Institute Road but there is a charge. The 50 bus and several others stop nearby on the High Street.)

Anyone with an interest is most welcome and we usually end with cake and tea/coffee !!

Another new visitor to the cemetery

Array4hogs, Hedgehog Rescue, have been working with the Friends again and we are pleased to introduce our latest new resident- Stevie. She is now up to weight and ready to be released again into the big wide world. Our thanks to Sharon for all her work with Hedgehogs locally. Please do try and make your gardens Hedgehog friendly and take care when strimming and having bonfires etc. Most of the arrivals lately have been badly hurt by strimmers.

rbt

Grave Gardeners session

We will be running another Grave Gardeners session to remove some Brambles that are choking some young trees and also some small Holly self setters in the cemetery.

 

The Friends and volunteers will be on site from 12 noon till approx. 3 pm on Saturday March 30th. Meet by the Cross of Sacrifice on the main drive. You are welcome to pop in at any time but if it is after 12 noon you may have to search for our ‘A’ frame as we will be disbursed around the cemetery.  Most people arrive at the start but only stay as long as they want and do as much or little as suits them.

Hope to see a few of you there. We have the tools, although you are welcome to bring your own. Rakes, brooms, secateurs and loppers always welcome. We also have some heavy duty gloves, but again you may prefer to bring your own.