Starting Up

Our secretary has many years of experience in assisting newly formed groups to get off to a positive start. You may be certain that there may be difficulties ahead and not everything will run smoothly - you only have to read some of the items on the News page submitted by our members. The support and bonding of the Federation with more experienced groups is but one of its strengths. Do please contact our secretary for advice.

We recommend that you browse through our list of members and search out one with a feature common to your own be it size, experience in campaigning, a special interest in ecology or to be honest the work that have done to date appeals to you and your potential members. Do get in touch with our secretary, remember many of the larger groups started from small beginnings. Watch out for Open Days and plan a visit with some of your supporters and you will be encouraged by their friendly support.

To help those worried about their cemeteries, the experiences of many groups have been distilled into the NFCF handbook - Saving Cemeteries - which aims to give step-by-step guidance on setting up a new group and then provide suggestions for its successful running. It also has some useful case studies from members with large and small burial grounds who dealt with a wide variety of problems. It is also helpful for established groups looking to develop activities or fund raising.