FPC Trust Newsletter 2021

Ford Park Cemetery Trust Newsletter 2020

APRIL 2021 Spring is here and we hope you and your loved ones have remained safe and well.

Unfortunately during 2020 we lost two members of the Trust, Mary McGivern and Joan Norris who were also valued volunteers.

2020 was a tough year for all of us – not what we were expecting at the time of our last newsletter when we were looking forward to celebrating our 20th anniversary! All our planned events after last March had to be put on hold.

We have closed the Visitors Centre and the office to members of the public, but have been pleased to see that the cemetery continues to be used for recreation. The office can still be contacted by phone or email and we hope that when the lockdown restrictions are lifted we will soon be able to resume normal activities. We are unable to provide a list of future events at present but these will be shown on our website when things are more certain. Please visit the website regularly to find out what is going on: www.ford-park-cemetery.org Along with the disappointment of not being able to welcome our friends and supporters to our usual events we have suffered a loss of income from the cancellation of walks and talks, and of course the various fairs we would have held, which has meant that we have not been able to proceed with projects we had planned. Among the most urgent of these are: Surfacing the path which leads to the machine store and the mess room for the ground staff, which is a mud bath at the best of times and a positive swimming pool when we have heavy rain. This makes it difficult to keep the premises clean as mud is constantly being trailed into the building.

A replacement van for getting around our 34 acres with the various pieces of equipment which need to be transported. Any van needs to be small enough to be able to manoeuvre the small paths and tight corners of the cemetery.

If you would like to consider contributing to any of these projects please contact the office for more information.

VOLUNTEERS In the summer, possibly because of the lockdown and furlough, we were fortunate to recruit some volunteers who were happy to spend their unexpected free time helping in the grounds. One of these was James, who we later discovered had some much needed skills as a bricklayer. If you have visited the grounds recently we hope you will be impressed with his work in repairing some of the more dangerous pieces of stonework and monuments.

The vaults were in a particularly bad state - here are some before and after photos of his handiwork:

We would like to be able to keep him on the staff on a permanent basis, subject to funding constraints - we reckon we could keep him occupied for several years! If you can help by sponsoring James please let the office know.

CHRISTMAS WREATH MAKING As this is a substantial source of income we were pleased that this was able to go ahead this year, although with only three volunteers suitably distanced around the cemetery. You may have noticed Maggie’s Den (no, not a prestigious abode in Downing Street, but a marquee behind the chapel) while Jeannie worked in the Visitors Centre and Jan from home. Three other volunteers were out in the grounds cutting the holly.

The total income for the Friends was £3,247, of which £2,276 which had been paid by card went straight to the Trust.

The Christmas raffle raised £790, below last year’s figure, however the normal opportunities to sell tickets were unavailable this year,

SPRING-CLEANING If you are unable to visit a family grave have you considered giving it a one off clean? These photos show the difference it can make.

If you would like to consider this, please contact the office for a quote.

THE BRIC_A_BRAC/CRAFT STALL The Craft Club, which has been in operation since 11/10/2017, managed to keep going through Covid due to the volunteers (perhaps with even more time on their hands than they expected) working from home. The demand for finished articles was such that stalls were set up, mainly from the Northey Room, with some in the Visitor's Centre, where the volunteers could sell to the public, not only Craft Goods but Bric a Brac, Books, Jams and Chutneys.

From small beginnings this has become a major fund raising enterprise with £1,000 being donated to the Friends on 11/10/2020 and a further £700 1/2/2021. As soon as regulations allow it is hoped that the Craft Club will continue trading, Saturdays only, and, therefore, be open to receive any donations of Books and Bric a Brac. We don’t accept donations of clothes however.

LOUIE'S AMAZING JOURNEY You may remember from last year’s newsletter reading about Louie French who visits the cemetery regularly with his family and is particularly interested in the war graves. This year, after watching the Annual Service of Remembrance at the Cenotaph in London, seven year old Louie said that he wanted to do something special to end 2020, after learning that it is the centenary year of the unveiling of the Cenotaph, and the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior.

His mum Lisa said: ‘We put our heads together as a family, with Louie coming up with the idea of visiting as many WW1 and WW2 memorials in 8 hours, finishing at Ford Park Cemetery, the resting place of Louie's first world war hero, Lt Reginald Lucy who later died of his wounds in France, after being wounded whilst rescuing a fellow comrade at the battle of Neuve Chapelle.

Louie is an honorary member of the Friends of Ford Park Cemetery, this year marks their 20th Anniversary as a charity who tend to the sprawling site that is full of historic graves.

Because of the impact of Covid 19 on the ability of the Royal British Legion to fundraise, Louie would also like to donate to help them continue with supporting our forces personnel and veteran's who have served our country.’

Louie’s favourites were Brixton as it was in the sun, and Ivybridge American memorial as he liked the helmet.

And he couldn't believe how many wreaths were on the Ashburton memorial.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission were also pleased to support Louie and gave him an opportunity to go inside the naval memorial while he was on the Hoe. Well done Louie, an amazing journey, visiting 35 memorials and raising £500 against a target of £150. The amount raised is to be split between Ford Park, the CWGC and the Royal British Legion

WATERLOO VETERAN'S GRAVE AT FORD PARK 2020 was the 205th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo and it is incredible to think that someone who fought in it is buried in our cemetery.

Darrell Jago was a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Artillery at Waterloo and served at both Quatre Bras and Waterloo in Capt. Sandham's Brigade. They were the first artillery battery to fire upon Napoleon. He also served in Portugal and finished his military career as a Captain. He died on 22nd Dec, 1850 aged 55.

Cliff Beaumont is a Sergeant in the 2nd 43rd Monmouthshire Light Infantry, a Napoleonic reenactment group which is based in Plymouth. He was in the cemetery with his wife Helen to lay some flowers on Darrell’s grave the day after the 205th anniversary.

Such a colourful spectacle was too good to miss and we were fortunate to be able to include some photographs (which remain the copyright of Helen Harris-Beaumont) and bring Darrell’s story to the attention of the wider public.

Finally, please support Ford Park Cemetery Trust while shopping with Amazon During lockdown, as we have been unable to visit our favourite shops, more of us have started shopping on line. We have discovered a new way of supporting the Trust whilst doing this: Shop at smile.amazon.co.uk and they will donate to your favourite charitable organisation, at no cost to you.

Shop at smile.amazon.co.uk Same products, same prices, same services as the Amazon you know .Amazon donates to your chosen charity Amazon will donate 0.5% of the price of your eligible purchases.

Please consider us if you are a regular shopper with Amazon.

We hope to be able to welcome you back in the near future