BC Landscaping Business help tidy up Westhoughton Cemetery

Overgrown grass in cemeteries in Bolton has caused huge upset among residents.

Brandon Connor, 18, and his colleague Brandon Cherry, 19,  who run BC Landscaping business in Bolton stepped in to help after seeing the condition of Westhoughton Cemetery.

They cut the grass for no cost.

The two lads noticed the overgrowth while visiting Westhoughton Cemetery and took it upon themselves to tidy it up for fellow residents who were visiting their loved ones.

Over the past two weeks they have been taking requests from residents to tidy up around the graves – and now as a thank you a GoFundMe has been set up to thank the pair for their kindness.

So far £600 has been raised for the duo.

Brandon Connor said he was inspired to help out after visiting his grandma and stepdad's graves.

He said: “My Grandma and my stepdad are in Westhoughton Cemetery, and I went there a few weeks back to cut their grass to keep it nice and tidy.

"I saw how bad of a state it was in and I thought it’s not nice to come and see overgrown graves when you come to see your loved ones.

“So, myself and Brandon thought let’s start cutting the grass and we continued to do it and it has just gone from there.

“The community response has been really positive, everyone has been coming over and saying thank you and everyone has just been so grateful for what we have done.

“When we saw that a fundraising page had been set up for us it felt really good because we had took some days off work, so we had lost some money from those days, so it felt really nice that everyone was helping us out and it did bring a smile to our faces.

“We are just focusing on Westhoughton Cemetery at the moment, we have had a few people messaging us about doing their loved ones' graves, so we are going to try and fit it in around work.”

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Brandon said he believes the council should be doing more to maintain the cemeteries in Bolton.

He said: “It is vital that the grass is cut at cemeteries, I think it needs to be done constantly and really well maintained because when you have got a loved one in the cemetery you want it to be looking nice.

"You pay so much for the plots, and they are just in a state and it’s not really nice when you are going to see a loved one.

“I think the council needs to invest more into cutting the grass because they spent all that money on Westhoughton town centre and doing all the pathway which isn’t the best quality, and they wasted their money on them when they didn’t need doing and they have just completely forgot about the cemetery really.”

Cllr David Wilkinson also said he is disappointed in the council for allowing the grass to grow so high.

He said: “One of the big issues we have had from residents is the condition of Westhoughton Cemetery.

“Grass has been allowed to grow, Bolton Council has taken its eye off the ball completely, it blamed the wet weather.

“However, other parts of the country and other councils have kept on top of grass cutting.

“This is deeply distressing for a lot of residents whose relatives are buried in the cemetery and other cemeteries across Bolton.”

How the grass looked a few weeks ago (Image: Cllr David Wilkinson) A spokesperson for Bolton Council said: “Grass cutting across the borough has been severely affected following the exceptionally wet spring and early summer.

“Our teams have been working hard to catch up during the recent drier spell.

“Resources have been diverted from other areas to support grass cutting in all our cemeteries.

“Westhoughton has been recognised as a priority and a team has been allocated there from today (Wednesday, June 19).

“We expect all cemetery grass cutting to be completed by the end of next week and for our mowing teams to return to their normal duties.”

If you would like to donate to the GoFundMe, go to: https://bit.ly/4b4l9k8

If you have a story or something you would like to highlight in the community, please email me at chloe.wilson@newsquest.co.uk or DM me on X @chloewjourno.