Thanks to Snyg over at Brummages I’ve just discovered a website for another of the green spaces that make Birmingham unique: Friends of Key Hill Cemetery. How long the website has been up, and how long the Friends have been active are both unknown, but they are both welcome additions to the Birmingham open space community, online and off.
The FoKHC (sorry, but acronyms are almost guaranteed in this medium) mission is “to raise whatever funds we can, no matter how small, and spend it on things required to bring the Cemetery back to a state that reflects its historical importance.”
The context for their efforts is set out briefly:
Key Hill Cemetery was designed as a beautiful open space. It was closed for burials in the early 1980s, and has been largely forgotten since then. Today, it looks unattended; monuments are broken, and there is an air of abandonment. The Birmingham City Council’s Cemeteries Department have done what they can to try and keep the cemetery tidy, but it faced a losing battle. There have been recent attempts to raise funding for large-scale restoration, but none have been successful, despite the fact that, in February 1996, Key Hill Cemetery was placed on the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Historic Interest, Grade II.
This is the sort of thing that requires a coalition, a rallying of support across a wide spectrum of groups and interests. So I’m hoping that a mention here might prompt a visit, an inquiry, and other kinds of support.
The website is a bit rough around the edges in that the contact form doesn’t work, and there is no apparent email address. It means that the Friends are somewhat incommunicado, which can’t help their efforts.
I’d like to pass along my own message as well. I would like Freinds of Key Hill (and anyone else) to know that the Birmingham Open Spaces Forum (BOSF) can support them in their efforts, and that there may also be website talent available via community-minded webheads hereabout.
