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Volunteers step up to repair babies’ headstones at Willesden Jewish Cemetery

The gravestones are over 100 years old

July 1, 2024 11:18
WillesdenJewishCemetery.jpg
3 min read

In what must be one of the most profound acts of selflessness, a group of volunteers has begun repairing the headstones of around 200 babies and small children at a north-west London Jewish cemetery.

The majority of these weather-worn gravestones found at Willesden Jewish Cemetery are the final resting place of young victims of the First World War or the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918 to 1920.

During the first of several day-long workshops, 11 volunteers worked alongside a team of staff to re-erect and secure loose headstones, clean the memorials and tidy up the surrounding gardens.

Volunteer Colin Frey, 63, told the JC that the project had “particularly resonated” with him. “I had a brother who died at 10 months, and it is something that isn’t talked about.”