FHRC Friends of Histon Road Cemetery: Constitution
FHRC Policies (Data Protection, Health & Safety, Equalities, Environment) – email
friendsofhistonroad
cemetery@yahoo.co.
uk for details
Become a Friend
You can help look after Histon Road Cemetery by joining the Friends. The subscription is £5 per household per calendar year and you will receive our newsletter three times a year. You will be able to help with projects in the Cemetery if you wish and attend our Annual General Meeting where you can voice your opinions and vote on Cemetery issues.
You’ll also have the opportunity to volunteer with us but we recognise that not all our members are in a position to do this. Just by joining the Friends of Histon Road Cemetery you will strengthen our influence with the Council and help us to achieve our objectives.
Friends of Histon Road Cemetery (FHRC)
The Friends of Histon Road Cemetery was established in 2006 by a group of local residents who were increasingly concerned by the deteriorating environment and misuse of the site. We have since worked closely with the local community and Cambridge City Council, who own the Cemetery.
What do the Friends do that the Council doesn’t?
FHRC work closely with Cambridge City Council. It is the Council who empty the bins and cut the grass but for example, we manage the Cemetery for wildlife benefit (see Nature section).
We try to achieve a balance between ‘wildlife-friendly’ and ‘tidy’ and our gardening volunteers plant and look after all sorts of shrubs and flowers in the borders and graves. The Cemetery looks beautiful at all times of year. We have a walk round with members every month to observe the seasonal changes and it’s very enjoyable to have a good look at everything in this way, taking our time instead of just walking briskly through.
We work with the Council on management of the trees and hedges, agreeing where new trees are to be planted and keeping the canopies raised to facilitate views across the Cemetery and deter anti-social behaviour. We also cut the hedges lower than the Council is able to, which allows views into the Cemetery for passersby and again deters anti-social behaviour.
Looking after the memorials is key, of course. We monitor their condition and employ specialist stonemasons to keep them safe and standing. It’s likely the Council would have to lay flat, for safety’s sake, any that start to move as the ground beneath them shifts, but this would radically alter the appearance of our beautiful Cemetery and we are keen to keep the memorials upright where at all possible. Although the Cemetery is closed to new burials (with some exeptions for interment of ashes in existing graves), we advise families on installing replacement headstones or even new ones where a grave didn’t previously have one. We have a number of war graves, looked after by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, and honour these with a ceremony on Remembrance Day every year.
Through all these efforts, the Cemetery has been returned to the safe and welcoming place for the community to enjoy and treasure that it should be. During the Covid lockdowns in particular, this lovely space really showed its worth.
We hold a database of all burials – there are, incredibly, 8245 of them – and it’s very satisfying to be able to help locate plots for the many enquiries we receive from relatives and others.
Your Friends’ membership is very important in making sure Histon Road Cemetery is looked after to the standard we all want and doesn’t slide back into the ruinous and intimidating place it had become before the Friends group was founded. It gives the committee access to the views of local people and others who care about the Cemetery. It also proves to the City Council that people really value this historic community resource.
In the interest of inclusivity the subscription remains at its original level of £5 per household. Donations, small, medium or large, are much appreciated of course and enable us to sustain the Friends’ contribution to the care of the Cemetery. Donations in kind, of time or skills, are also crucial and there’s all sorts you could do – do let us know if you’re interested in helping in any way.
Liz Moon ©
What we aim to do
- To protect and enhance Histon Road Cemetery for the public benefit as a place of remembrance, spirituality, history and nature.
- To speak and act with Cambridge City Council and other organisations on behalf of those who care for Histon Road Cemetery as such a place, particularly those who cherish the memory of one buried there.
- To ensure continued public access to and to increase awareness, appreciation and enjoyment of Histon Road Cemetery within the local community and the wider city.
As members of the National Federation of Cemetery Friends and Caring for God’s Acre, we are in contact with groups throughout the country.
Find us on Facebook at friendsofHistonRoadCemetery
Email us at FriendsofHistonRoadCemetery@yahoo.co.uk
To report criminal activity or anti-social behaviour
Call the police on 999 or 111
or
contact Cambridge City Council on 01223 457950 or at asbsection@cambridge.gov.uk