Friends of Zion Graveyard, Company No 11016737 Registered in & Wales 331 Newman Road, S9 1LW Tel: 07980 143776 Email: [email protected] www.ziongraveyard.btck.co.uk Facebook: Friends of Zion Graveyard, Attercliffe

November 2017 Newsletter Helping Save the Forgotten Graves We are delighted to report that we now have over 230 members and 179 Facebook followers. About 40 members have come to help at the graveyard on at least one workday since we were formed in July 2017. An Incorporated Company has now been formed to be the legal entity that will purchase the graveyard and protect it for the future. We Uncovering1. Uncovering the the 56th 56th grave grave are in the process of applying for charitable status which will further protect this long neglected, historic graveyard and also enable us to claim Gift Aid on donations. Thanks to the generosity of our supporters we have now raised over £3,000, mainly from individual members but also including £1,000 from the Sanita Merali Trust, £500 from Upper Wincobank Chapel and £200 from the Ashram Community Trust, . Our bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund for a grant to buy the graveyard and run a programme of community events has now been submitted. We Revealing the base of the church wall should hear the decision before the end of December. We hope the application is sufficiently compelling and well-argued, but it will still be a nervous build up to Christmas. We are continuing our fund-raising activities in the meantime in case we aren’t successful as we will in any case need further funds for maintenance and repair work. The graveyard will be open again on Sunday 19th November from 1pm to 3pm when the passageway from Ferguson Street will also be open so that those who can’t manage the path from Zion Lane will be able to see the site Mary Anne Rawson's grave, Heritage Open Day through the existing fence. If you haven’t been down yet, please come and have a look as it is normally locked: the address is Zion Graveyard, Zion Lane / Lawrence Street, Sheffield S9 3RG And now to the most important news – Zion Graveyard itself. We have cleared and recorded more than 56 graves – listed on our website – whilst retaining the romance of the site and much of the natural history. The site of Zion Church itself has now been sold and cleared as the new owner is converting it into a car sales compound. We have met with him to agree the boundary between his land and the graveyard and feel that a reasonable The new boundary fence compromise was reached. We are relieved that the flat gravestones that ran behind the church have been saved along with land where two large tombs are thought to be under rubble near the wall of the church. A substantial fence has been erected by the new owner and he has generously agreed to improve the path and allow continued permissive access through the Zion Lane gate. On Thursday 14th December at 7pm there will be a Members Meeting at 7pm at Upper Wincobank Chapel, the building founded in 1841 as a school by Abolitionist Mary Anne Rawson, who was buried at Zion. We will be able to give you a more detailed update, an illustrated talk about some of the research on the graves and invite you to share ideas for the future care of the Graveyard. As an optional extra, a delicious Zion Christmas High Tea will be served beforehand from 6pm, provided and prepared as a fund-raising venture by retired catering professionals Penny and Adam Rattenbury. Tickets are £7, to be paid for on the door, but in order to help planning you are asked to text 07980 143776 to book by 29th November. You may of course just attend the 7pm meeting at no cost. Guests are welcome at both. Our youngest members Alanna, Emily and Holly Hurman have recently launched an innovative fund-raising enterprise branded “Dreams of Zion” and they will be bringing a selection of their hand-crafted Christmas decorations, made from the trees in the

Dreams of Zion hand-made crafts Zion Graveyard. There will also be a raffle – prizes welcome.

Please support our campaign to SAVE THE GRAVEYARD by making even just a small a donation if you have not already done so. Or maybe you can think of other ways to spread the word and raise funds. Two of our members are running in the 10k Percy Pud race in the Loxley Valley and another has offered to give a talk on military uniforms with proceeds going to the campaign. DONATIONS may be made by  cheque payable to Friends of Zion Graveyard, Attercliffe post to Steve Randall, FoZGA Treasurer, 331 Newman Road, Sheffield S9 1LW  bank transfer to Friends of Zion Graveyard, Attercliffe Sort Code 40-42-49 Account No. 72101939  https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/ziongraveyardattercliffe Thank you for your ongoing support – hope to see you soon…