00:00 [Loud saw noise]
00:05 We're in St Clement's Churchyard in Skegness and it just happens to be the big help out this weekend
00:13 which is also running alongside Volunteers Week.
00:18 But I'm with the Mayor of Skegness here and this has been a project that's been going on for a while hasn't it?
00:26 Yeah, it started about two years ago. We had a really big turnout to start with getting it down to this managing level.
00:37 Since then, it's started off a little bit but there's regular volunteers.
00:41 Recently, a couple of months ago, there's a new guy just joined to help Amanda and Richard Cunnington
00:48 who's been ultimately at it non-stop for two years.
00:51 Obviously with other commitments, I've myself jumped back on again.
00:56 But that was the whole point of it. The whole point of it is that if you can spare an hour of it in a year, that hour is valuable.
01:04 Even if it's just a strim, litter pick, cut a hedge, anything at all is all part of the whole idea of keeping it maintained.
01:13 It's a valuable project.
01:17 And it means a lot to the families because they were very upset, weren't they, initially when the decision was made not to cut the grass in churchyards?
01:28 Yeah, well sadly...
01:29 Turn them to God's pastures, I believe the right phrase for that was.
01:35 Yeah, initially when it was as high as it was, we were very cautious.
01:40 The problem was there was bees' nests, there was wasps, there was wildlife in and out of it.
01:45 So initially it was hard work getting it to this stage.
01:50 But now it's at this stage, maintaining it at this stage is crucial because as you can see now,
01:57 there are fresh flowers on graves that we do see people down here when we're down here.
02:02 Coming down prior to that, you couldn't get them, you couldn't even see the headstones.
02:08 Okay, so come along and join in.
02:11 Please, if you can, every bit of time that you can give us is appreciated.
02:15 So if somebody would like to come along and help you, how would they go about it?
02:19 There is, I mean, we do have a WhatsApp page, we've also got a Facebook group, Facebook page.
02:25 And people, I mean, we've had people search us on the St Clement's and Mary's volunteers page.
02:32 They then message us through that or private message individuals as part of the admin and then come down and contact us that way.
02:40 It's probably the best way.
02:42 I've been watching you busy streaming over there, doing a great job.
02:48 Why have you come along?
02:50 I'm a local lad, obviously.
02:52 I just want to sort of try and help as much as I can.
02:55 Like this is my local graveyard, you know, so to try and keep it looking well.
03:00 I mean, everyone in the community can do that for a couple of hours once every month or so, you know.
03:06 That's what my aim is.
03:08 Have you enjoyed it?
03:09 Yeah, yeah, really much. I love being outdoors anyway, so it gets me out of the house, doesn't it?
03:15 Yeah.
03:17 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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