Friends clear up St John’s Churchyard ahead of Open Day

Ateam of 16 spent 41 volunteer hours at St John’s Church on a sunny Saturday afternoon clearing weeds and garden waste in the churchyard and collected 25 large bags of rubbish.

The team concentrated on the paths around the church, clearing weeds from the edges by the gravestones. This really improved the look of the paths. Volunteers also worked around some of the gravestones and tombs to remove self-set saplings and weeds. During the work the team uncovered the broken half of the Rose Family gravestone under the weeds and grass. The Roses’ were sextons at the church for many years in the 1800s.

A student from North Bromsgrove High School who is gardening at St John’s for the volunteering part of their The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Bronze joined the team for the clean up afternoon.

The event was organised by the Friends of St John’s to take place ahead of the Patronal Service on 25th June and the Open Day which will be held on Saturday 22nd July between 11am and 3pm.

At the Open Day visitors will be able to climb the tower to see the views, learn about the history of the church and it’s people from historian Simon Henderson, meet members of the Bromsgrove Society who will be hosting a book stall and find out about the latest fundraising project to “Save our Spire”.

The Open Day is held in collaboration with the team from Creative Arts who will be in Sanders Park on the same day with their 12 hour Creative Fest. Barty Bee visited St John’s to check out the view of the park from the top of the tower. On the 22nd July there will be a trail between the two events. All are welcome to these two free events, held as part of the Bromsgrove Festival.

A huge thanks go to those who volunteered at the clean up afternoon and made a difference. To find out how you can help visit www.facebook.com/FriendsStJohnsBromsgrove