Good Samaritan Andy gives church cemetery a facelift

A shy Good Samaritan has been praised by a community for bringing an incredible facelift to an ancient church cemetery.

Andy Clegg, 49, who cleans and maintains gardens for a living, discovered the overgrown, weed-filled cemetery at St John’s Church in St John’s Street, Lees, after driving a different route to visit a friend.

A local resident put him in touch with Rev Lyn Woodall, of St John the Baptist, Hey, who had been working to resolve issues preventing the the site and it’s gravestones from being maintained.

In particular, given safety concerns about the stability of some of the graves, the previous insurance cover meant no-one was allowed to go on the site to maintain it.

Fortunately, a change in insurance provider meant it was now possible to go on site and clean up.

Andy, from Milnrow, said: “Driving past, I just thought: ‘That’s an eyesore. I wonder if I could do something about it'. 

"It’s what I do for my day job, so I have all the equipment, but it’s nice to do something which is just to help people.

“When I had cleared round the front, I put some pictures on the local Facebook group, and was blown away when about 500 people liked and commented on it.

"I had no idea it would make a difference for so many people.”

For Rev Woodall the hope is in the future it will be possible for the cemetery to be maintained by the community, with a balance keeping it natural for wildlife, but accessible enough for people to be able to visit family graves.

That is all dependent on the outcome of a survey.

She said: "There have been so many issues, but I’m really optimistic we can continue to make progress.

"However, it all takes time.”

Andy added: “I’ve spent a lot more time and effort on it than I thought I would, and there’s still plenty more to do. 

“What I really want is to come back and see it opened up to the public, and looked after by the community.

"I’d love to be able to stand at the gate and say hello to all the people for whom it has made a difference.

“When you look back on your life, you know that you’ve really done something.

"If this cemetery can stay in a nice state, with local people keeping it tidy – that’ll do me.”

As well as Andy’s clearing up, work is underway to treat Japanese Knotweed in one section of the cemetery, and several trees are having to be cut back due to Ash Dieback - a problem affecting trees across the whole borough. 

A survey is due to be started soon by another volunteer to look at the safety issues around the gravestones, which will hopefully resolve the insurance issues and allow more people to maintain it in the future.

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