The Great Graveyard Shift was... great!

7 March 2011

The second community clean-up at the South Brisbane Cemetery for 2011 took place on Sunday 6 March (Clean Up Australia Day) and certainly exceeded expectations.

The Friends of South Brisbane Cemetery and the BRGHS had organised about 50 people to come along for the 'Great Graveyard Shift', but in the end we had over 90 turn up and register with us! This included about 30 cubs and scouts from the Tarragindi and Kurilpa groups.

The cemetery was a hive of activity and we made good progress in following up the cleaning work from the Sisters Suburbs Sunday event in January, and all attendees received free membership of the FOSBC as well as free morning tea and BBQ lunch.

Event co-ordinator Tracey Olivieri said it was particularly encouraging to see so many children take part, as one of the primary aims of the FOSBC is to foster greater community respect for cemeteries. "We believe that if children engage with these places in a positive way, that experience stays with them and they grow up respecting the importance of our cemeteries" she said. "For some of the kids it was the first time they had stepped foot in a place like this, and they were really fascinated by it."

The FOSBC and BRGHS are now planning for another community clean-up project to take place later this year.