A Sheffield community group is urging more young people to get involved in conservation and help preserve the area.

The Friends of Wardsend Cemetery Group is keen for young people to understand how they are connected to heritage while at the same time encouraging them to see the benefits of volunteering.

The group has cared for the Victorian burial ground since 2015 and was initially established to coordinate tours and conduct archival research. It has recently shifted focus to working to preserve the graveyard that closed in 1968. 

The organisation consists mostly of retired people but is encouraging younger generations to get involved.

Meghan Tipping, 32, an education and heritage freelancer who volunteers at the site, said: “Young people don’t really realise they can be connected to this kind of heritage.

“Young people are the key because there’s only so much retired people can do, and they do eventually pass on, and then there’s no-one who’s captured any of that amazing community knowledge.” 

The group also highlighted how despite achieving university degrees, many students still struggle to find jobs, and how volunteer work can help young people standout.

Meghan said:  “I’m very keen to help pull in as many different students as we can, whether that’s journalism, architecture, archaeology, history, all of those subject areas where you can come here and get something from the site.” 

In a push to increase engagement from the community, the group has arranged monthly conservation mornings, as well as bird and butterfly surveys.

Meghan added: “We’ve got significant species within the site because it’s kind of rewilded. We’ve got a tourney owl that’s been sighted. We had one moth in the last month or so that was the first of its species found in Sheffield. There’s amazing habitats so it’s the perfect place for that kind of thing.” 

The group is keen to raise awareness of upcoming events including a tour for the anniversary of the Great Sheffield Flood as well as heritage open days in September and wants students to get in touch ‘to shape those into much more interesting events’. 

If interested, you can contact the group via email wardsendcem@gmail.com, or alternatively through their Instagram @FriendsofWardsendCemetery and Facebook group.