How your donation makes a difference to the Commonwealth War Graves Foundation

Your donations and support mean the world to our charity. But have you ever wondered what your support means for us at the Commonwealth War Graves Foundation?

Donating to the Commonwealth War Graves Foundation

Support our core mission: keeping the memories of the Commonwealth’s war dead alive

As our moto states, we are all about sharing the stories of the fallen at the Commonwealth War Graves Foundation.

These courageous men and women gave their lives so that we might enjoy the freedoms and liberties of today. We think their sacrifice should never be forgotten. We hope you do too!

The Impact of your donation

Here’s how your donation can help make a real difference to our outreach and education programmes:

• £9 could buy three hi-visibility vests to help keep our Eyes On, Hands On volunteers safe
• £10 could pay the cost of travel for a tour guide or speaker to a venue
• £22 could pay for a full cleaning kit for one of our Eyes On, Hands On volunteers
• £39 could pay for one of our volunteer speakers to deliver an inspiring talk to a school or youth group
• £100 could pay to fully train one of our Guides ready for their experience of working abroad so they are best able to welcome visitors, share the incredible stories of those we commemorate, and help assist visitors on their journey of remembrance
• £132 could pay the full costs of one of our Eyes On, Hands On Volunteers for a year including training, clothing and equipment and travel expenses

How does the Commonwealth War Graves Foundation share the stories of the dead of the World Wars?

Take a look at our Projects and you’ll find the various ways we reach out and interact with the general public.

From everything to sharing simple blogs sharing casualty stories to volunteer speakers and tour guides, your donations and support help us put together these education and outreach activities.

The Volunteer Speakers programme, for example, allows us to spread the word about our work, the work of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, and the casualties in our care. 

Each speaker goes into schools, colleges, scouts/guide groups, universities, and other organisations like businesses, faith groups, and rotary clubs, filling them in on the important work we do.

Workshops and talks of all shapes and sizes are organised but it’s only through your support that we can put them on.

Educating the public, especially younger generations, on the importance of the World Wars, and their triumph and tragedy, is more important than ever. Through a donation, you’re helping us keep alive the memories of over 1.7 million men and women from around the world.

Volunteering

As you may have guessed, some of our supporters prefer to donate their time.

Volunteering is at our core, and we are rightly proud of the impact our volunteers make. We work alongside the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to help put together these volunteer projects.

If you’ve been following the Commonwealth War Graves Foundation, you may already be familiar with one of our flagship volunteer projects: Eyes On, Hands On.

Did you know there are over 160,000 war graves in the UK? While thousands reside in purpose-built CWGC cemeteries, many are scattered across the country in individual graves or in isolated churchyards or cemeteries.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission maintenance teams do an amazing job caring for these sites, but sometimes they need a helping hand. This is where Eyes On, Hands On comes in.

Since 2019, we’ve been recruiting history lovers across the UK to help us inspect, clean, and maintain isolated war graves and headstones. 

You can see the brilliant work of our dedicated Eyes On, Hands On volunteers with the latest impact report figures from 2022:

• 88% of UK sites were allocated to EOHO project participants
• Over 23,000 site reports were sent
• Over 36,000 man-hours were spent inspecting and caring for our headstones
• Over 160,000 were inspected with 44,500 cleaned or tidied

Your donations go towards projects like Eyes On, Hands On. You can read more about the project and its impact here.

To learn more about volunteering with Commonwealth War Graves, visit the Volunteering page for the latest information and opportunities in your area.

Help the Commonwealth War Graves Foundation keep their memories alive with a donation today

Whether you donate your time or money, you’re helping us preserve and share our shared history.

There are many ways you can make a donation to the Commonwealth War Graves Foundation, including:

• Bank transfer
• Text
• Cheque

Visit our Donation page to learn more.

However you support us, we’d like to say a huge thank you from everyone here at the Commonwealth War Graves Foundation.

Together, we can continue to tell their stories.