On a bright November day, environment managers from Woking Borough Council’s ‘Place’ directorate descended on Brookwood Cemetery armed with boots, gardening gloves, and lots of enthusiasm for a day of volunteering.

Brookwood Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the UK, covering 220 acres of graves, mausoleums and green space. As such, a lot of work is required to maintain the cemetery as a beautiful place for remembrance and reflection. To help with the upkeep, Brookwood Cemetery welcomes regular groups of volunteers who assist in cleaning and preserving the memorials and grounds, including a recent group of volunteers from Woking Borough Council.

The volunteers enjoyed a busy day on site, starting with a walking tour of parts of the south cemetery, including a behind-the-scenes look at the Columbarium. After the tour and a short briefing they got stuck in with the task at hand, cleaning headstones, trimming back vegetation, and clearing the Swedish Plot in the north cemetery.

Although the team was put through their gardening paces, they were rewarded for their hard work with lots of refreshments from the team at Brookwood, and all thoroughly enjoyed the day.

The day was organised as part of Brookwood Cemetery’s new corporate volunteering offering. The cemetery is welcoming local businesses down to the site to help out with a day of clearing, gardening and team building in the fresh air, all while helping preserve a beautiful Grade I listed historic park and garden. The cemetery also hosts a regular gardening group that meets Thursdays from 10am to 1pm every other week for anyone interested in volunteering on an individual basis.

If you’ve been inspired to get involved with volunteering at Brookwood Cemetery, either as an individual or a corporate team, get in touch by emailing info@BrookwoodCemetary.com or call 01483 472 222. Or, you can visit the cemetery grounds daily to enjoy the beauty and peace of this historic site. Find out more on the Brookwood Cemetery website.