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Mrs Jones said: \u201cI just think it\u2019s such a shame when loved ones’ graves go into disrepair and I felt as though I wanted to tidy up and restore as many of them as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She feels that just because many of the gravestones she attends are overgrown or dirty, it doesn\u2019t mean that those buried there are uncared for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She said: \u201cMany of the headstones I look after are quite old and I think their relatives have most likely moved elsewhere or passed away themselves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I\u2019d like to think that by looking after them, I\u2019m keeping their memory alive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mrs Jones currently visits different cemeteries when she can but would like to create a group of volunteers that could help on a regular basis to cover more ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m aware of some groups that already exist in Sheffield, but as I live more towards Rotherham and the outskirts, I wanted to focus on these areas as I feel like they can be a bit neglected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I\u2019ve seen groups like the \u2018Friends of Loxley Cemetery\u2019 in Sheffield meet up to maintain and clean up the graveyard and I felt really inspired to follow in their footsteps.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Friends of Loxley Cemetery is a volunteer group which formed in 2019 that works on maintaining the graveyard and restoring memorials in the chapel, which is now permanently closed to the public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mrs Jones said: “I think projects like these are so important, in not only respecting the dead and restoring their memory but also in documenting history and finding out about who the names on the headstones are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She is planning to create a volunteer group online and says that the community groups seem interested and supportive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She added: \u201cI have at least ten people interested in joining so far. We just need to work out the logistics but we\u2019re hoping to start in the next couple of months.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A Rotherham woman has volunteered to restore graves in her local cemetery.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":567,"featured_media":55842,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[415,55],"tags":[797,1259,132,586],"class_list":["post-55805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-top-story-3","tag-cemeteries","tag-moorgate","tag-rotherham","tag-volunteer"],"yoast_head":"\n