Come along and help record the inscriptions on the headstones in Brandwood End. You can also learn what they really mean and how word styles have changed over the years.
Dates are now available for the whole of the summer but you do need to book a place as numbers are restricted. Once you take part in this event, organised by Caring for Gods Acre, you will want to come again.
These sessions are free, just book your place here.
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. 
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
Members of the Friends spent a fruitful morning with Councillor John Cotton (Cabinet Member for Social Inclusion, Community Safety, Equalities and Bereavement Services) and Paul Lankester (Interim Assistant Director Regulation and Enforcement). Alison Fumagalli and Dawn Harding (Bereavement Services) arranged the meeting and we were able to view the Chapel interiors and several other areas in the cemetery. We thank them all for sparing the time in their busy work schedules but I am sure they agree that it was an interesting morning for us all.
Whilst in the cemetery we all paid a visit to the small War Graves area which is being refurbished by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission team, as it had become a little shabby. We await the finished article with anticipation as there will be new turf and perennial planting, in line with all CWGC maintained sites.
THURSDAY 27TH JANUARY IS A DATE FOR QUIET REFLECTION.
Holocaust Memorial Day 2022
There will be a commemoration event at Millennium Point on Sunday 20th.
Birmingham’s annual civic commemoration of Holocaust Memorial Day will be hosted at Millennium Point next week.
The Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Cllr Muhammad Afzal, will lead the event on Sunday (30 January 2022) which this year has the theme of One Day. The event is free, open to all and starts at 2pm.
Holocaust Memorial Day commemorates the victims and survivors of the Holocaust and Nazi persecutions, as well as other genocides around the world.
One Day is the theme for this year’s event, in the hope there may be one day in the future with no genocide. It is also an opportunity to learn more about the past, empathise with others today and take action for a better future.
This year’s programme will feature a candle-lighting ceremony as well as testimony from Mindu Hornick MBE, who will talk about her experiences as a Holocaust survivor, plus performances from violinist Simone Schehtman, Birmingham’s Young Poet Laureate Fatma Mohiuddin and the city council’s choir.
Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Cllr Muhammad Afzal, said: “Holocaust Memorial Day is an opportunity for everyone to pause, reflect and learn lessons from the past and apply them to the present day, to create a safer, better future.
“This year we will be able to come together to light a candle and remember victims of atrocities and genocides around the world, as well as those who are still sadly losing their lives through war, conflict and hate crime. I hope as many people as possible will join us Millennium Point on 30 January.”
Cllr John Cotton, Cabinet Member for Social Inclusion, Community Safety and Equalities at Birmingham City Council, will be hosting the event and give a short speech.
This event will also be recorded and shared via the city council’s social media accounts afterwards.