The Friends and the cemetery have had a wonderful year with many more volunteers than in previous years, mainly working on our special 20th Anniversary Grave Revealing and Recording Project. Nearly every month in 2025 our volunteers contributed in excess of 120 hours between them, which is the equivalent to 3 full time additional ground staff.
The photographs below show just a few of the volunteers (community and corporate groups) that have pitched in to clear shrubs, take photographs, create data bases, litter pick, marshall events, lead walks, plant trees, liaise with schools, apply for grants, research, honour the fallen and generally keep the community involved and informed.
We can’t forget Bereavements Service staff both on the ground and in Kings Norton office. Without their co operation we would not be able to achieve as much as we do.
Seasons Greetings to you all and let’s hope that 2026 is as productive as 2025 has been.
Despite the warning of bad weather we were joined by volunteers from AVOVE in an attempt to clear a large coppice area that was covering a number of graves.
You can see the coppice that lies behind the volunteers and the outline of a number of graves hidden within the shrubbery. When the team arrived there was none of the predicted wind but the drizzle soaked through your clothes! That drizzle later became torrential rain, but the team were determined to clear the whole coppice.
As you can see by the photograph below, they totally cleared the coppice and uncovered lots of graves that had been hidden for many years.
Twelve Deutsche Bank staff and four FBEC volunteers worked all day to clear several large areas of established self set trees and shrubs on one of the sections in the cemetery. It’s a slow process but we are making headway in the cemetery. It is a little like the Forth Road Bridge as we are sure it grows back almost as fast as we remove it, however much of the shrubbery removed has been in place for many, many years and will only return as ”low level.
The photograph below gives you an idea of the size of coppice/shrubbery we were tackling. If you would like to see more, follow this link.
The larger trees are left as the aim is purely to make access to all graves possible. Often the lower branches may be removed if the tree is well established. Below you can see the area above after clearance.
Many hands make this process easier and so much faster. 2 areas like this and some smaller spots were cleared in todays work.
Deutsche Bank volunteers join FBEC members in a 2 minutes silence at the Cross of Sacrifice today before continuing with their grave clearance task.
Reminder to our lovely team of gardeners. the next Grave Gardening Session is this Saturday the 8th November .Meet at the lodge at 11am.
Why not join us for some chat and a workout?
Ray and Sue Howell are Friends of the cemetery and work mainly in the Civilian Garden. This week Ray took to tidying the top of the hedge, which had already grown since the BCC Maintenance Team reduced its height! Sue was equally busy trying to tidy up access to the toilet block!
What a difference a ‘cut hedge’ can make. Next time you are in the cemetery have a look at the area inside the Chapel Fence. The hedge had become well out of control but the Grounds Maintenance team, who cut the grass, pitched in and now it is neat and tidy. Thank you .
A bit of a mess ! Now much tidier!
Today we were pleased to welcome five Deutsche Bank staff to the cemetery to continue the clearance of section B10 that their colleagues, and our Grave Gardeners, had begun this summer.
Despite really heavy rain for half an hour they were able to clear an amazing amount of shrubbery and expose another 8+graves that have been hidden for many years. Well done everyone.
This section is one of the older areas and has been neglected for some time but recent work by our Grave Gardeners and Deutsche Bank staff has meant that we have now made serious inroads. Well done to you all as I think you will agree the result is stunning.
If you would like to see more of the action today you can follow this link.
The Friends of Brandwood End Cemetery celebrate the cemetery all year round as a calm and peaceful place to visit but this week is a special week to ask everyone to remember their local cemetery and maybe pay a visit as part of NATIONAL CEMETERIES WEEK. Cemeteries may be well kept or they may be neglected. Nationally many will have Friends groups, some will not. Wherever they are they will be especially celebrated this week and so will all the paid and volunteer staff that work within them.
This Sunday, the 8th June, our Grave Gardeners will be meeting by the Lodge at 11am to continue their work in Brandwood End. They meet every month and, along with corporate groups, they strive to keep Brandwood looking loved and cared for. It’s a 53 acre site so progress is sometimes slow and not evident but we assure you we are all working hard to make this space welcoming.