Greater Shankill ACT, Grave Maintenance Project
The ACT Initiative is very much about looking to the future and developing communities, but we must also remember the past and the sacrifices and hardships made by many in defence of the Loyalist community and our place within the United Kingdom.
Recently some volunteers involved in an Archiving Project noticed how some graves in Roselawn had become a bit grubby due to recent bad weather. The Greater Shankill Area Action Group then decided to set up a Grave Maintenance Project where graves could be cleaned and tidied to a standard befitting the brave men who rest there. A lot of the headstones and plots are kept in immaculate condition by family and friends but for different reasons some families cannot attend the cemeteries as much as they would like.
Many comrades of the fallen usually visit the graves in the Autumn in preparation for Remembrance Sunday but it has been decided that ACT will continue to visit the graves a few times a year and take in many different cemeteries.
A large number of ACT volunteers turned out today to take part in the first grave maintenance day. While all the volunteers attend Roselawn annually to pay respects to their friends and comrades it was an opportunity to attend the graves of men from different units whose graves they normally wouldn’t see. It was a humbling experience and a very proud day for ACT. I would like to congratulate the Greater Shankill AAG, the volunteers who took part and those who coordinated the day in a very professional manner.
If any families who cannot attend cemeteries on a regular basis for any reason need assistance they can contact any member of ACT and we will do our best to help in any way.
‘Remember them with pride’
