Led by North Wales charity CAIS, Change Step is a peer mentoring and advice service for military veterans and others with post traumatic stress disorder and a range of psychosocial problems who want to make positive changes to their lives. With the help of a community grant from the Armed Forces Covenant they plan to offer gardening services to help maintain war graves in the six local authorities in North Wales.
Using data from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Change Step will develop a website that will act as a local guide on War Graves in North Wales. It will include lists and maps of all of the cemeteries in North Wales.
The Armed Forces Community Covenant Grant aims to strengthen the ties or the mutual understanding between members of the Armed Forces Community and the wider community in which they live. The grant is available via local authorities that have signed the Community Covenant, for which we are grateful to Conwy County Council as lead signatories for this project.
We also acknowledge the work of John Somerville, Hon. Chaplain Royal British Legion North Wales District, for sharing the list of war graves with Change Step, without which this project would not have been possible.
CAIS Director, Geraint Jones, said “Raising awareness of the human cost to Wales of the First and Second World Wars is something we are very proud to be a part of, and who better to lead on this project than veterans themselves. Many local cemeteries are a rich source of history and interest and our aim is to make these sites more accessible and safe for the general public whilst restoring and promoting interest and pride in our veterans’ graves.”
If you know of a Churchyard that includes war graves that Change Step could schedule into their plans or to find out more information about volunteering please contact Kimberley Ferguson on kimberley.ferguson@cais.org.uk or call 01492 523 821.
If you would like to know more about Change Step please visit the Change Step website on www.changestepwales.co.uk or call 0300 777 2259