Why should you volunteer with the Commonwealth War Graves?

Considering volunteering your time for a good cause? Why not volunteer with Commonwealth War Graves?

Volunteer with Commonwealth War Graves

Why volunteer?

If you’re a history lover looking to engage with the UK’s shared heritage in your local community, volunteering with Commonwealth War Graves might be a great option for you.

Volunteering provides some amazing benefits for those getting involved.

For starters, volunteering presents many different opportunities to learn new skills. In our case, we can help our community and volunteers with the opportunity to enhance their horticultural knowledge, public speaking, and general know-how.

It’s also a great way to get out of your comfort zone. For instance, many of us may not feel we have the confidence to become great public speakers.

Our volunteer speaking opportunities give you the chance to spread some historical knowledge while working on your confidence in front of others.

There are health benefits too. Mayo Clinic researchers have found that those who volunteer may lead happier, healthier lives than those that don’t.

Reduced stress, lower anxiety levels, and a decrease in physical and mental ailments were all noted in the Mayo Clinic’s research participants. Sounds good, doesn’t it?

As a Commonwealth War Graves volunteer, you get the opportunity to join a community of like-minded history lovers.

Expand your social circle and meet new people by getting involved in some of our volunteering projects. Strike up interesting new conversations, meet new friends, and change your life!

For those of us in the first flush of our careers, studying at university, or looking for an enhanced CV, volunteering can help too.

It gives you real-world experience, and volunteering projects also look great to prospective employers.

Lastly and most importantly: volunteering is fun! You get to know you’re making difference while engaging in exciting new activities and trying something different.

Who doesn’t want to experience that?

How can you volunteer with Commonwealth War Graves?

There are plenty of ways to get involved as a Commonwealth War Graves Volunteer.

Volunteer Speakers

We have a network of speakers sharing the work of the Commonwealth War Graves Foundation and Commission.

Our Volunteer Speakers give talks and lectures up and down the country, visiting schools, universities, colleges, scout/guide groups, businesses, faith groups, and many more different organisations.

What do they do? They share information on who we are and what we do, as well as inform groups of all ages on the work and history of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Here are the main themes our volunteer speakers work on:

• The work of the CWGC via professional presentations on its history and work, including a look at war graves nearby, interesting personal stories on CWGC casualties, and information on the Foundation.
• Lead workshops and talks on important anniversaries, such as Remembrance Day, VE & VJ Day, D-Day, and so on. We provide speakers with a template to follow for such presentations, but generally, each workshop is tailored to the target audience.
• The CWGF and promote donations on and/or memberships. Education is at the core of what we do after all!

Tour guides

Tour Guides fall under the auspice of our Volunteer Speakers programme.

Instead of going into institutions around the country, they instead guide history enthusiasts around Commission war cemeteries and memorials.

Hundreds of thousands of World War casualties are commemorated in the United Kingdom. It’s part of our remit to tell their stories so their immense sacrifice will never be forgotten. Our volunteer Tour Guides are a vital part of us achieving our goal.

Eyes On, Hands On

Did you know that the Commonwealth War Graves Commission looks after more than 160,000 headstones across the UK?

With over 13,000 locations in the United Kingdom, including churchyards and non-military cemeteries, it takes a huge effort to maintain and care for them.

Eyes On, Hands On (EOHO) was established to help Commission maintenance teams look after our sites while giving history lovers the chance to engage with CWGC locations in their local area.

So, what does EOHO entail? Our Eyes On, Hands On volunteers are trained on how to inspect, review, and care for CWGC headstones.

They’re effectively our eyes and ears on the ground. Any information they spot about headstones needing more maintenance, they pass this information to the Commission’s maintenance teams so they can be thoroughly reviewed, and if necessary, restored to their proper glory.

Want to get involved? Volunteer today

Feeling inspired?

Head over to the Volunteer page to discover your options.