Young scouts earn badges by cleaning up graves

A group of young scouts are proving their reputation for doing good deeds by cleaning and maintaining derelict graves in their local cemetery.

The Raunds 1st Scout Group took on unadopted graves from the town council "half a year ago" and work on them once a term.

The Beavers working on the project are aged between five and eight years old, and are accompanied by group lead volunteer Josje Reid-Anderson.

She said: "It's good from them to give something back to the community."

The scouts volunteer at the London Road Cemetery to weed and keep clean the graves they have adopted.

Cemetery plots are initially the responsibility of Raunds Town Council, as well as the relatives of the deceased.

However, if left unattended, they can be taken on by members of the local community, or groups in the town.

The town council has been working on improving the condition of the cemetery for 18 months, including offering volunteers the opportunity to adopt graves.

Paul Byrne, deputy mayor of Raunds, said the take up of adopting graves had been "great" but there were still "plenty available".

"We have a day where we have a cemetery clean up," he said.

"The youngsters come up and help clear the weeds. It's great for them."

Seven-year-old Jessica is one of the Beavers taking part in the project.

She has been responsible for "pulling sticks out of the graves" as well as "watering bulbs".

All Beavers taking part will get a gardening badge, and a community badge at the end of the project.

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