Three Daring Doves from Pendeen will be making their way down the Eden Project Zip Wire (90 m above the ground!) on Wednesday 11th September 2024 carried by three equally daring residents of the village. Marcia and Kevin Hancocks and Delia Webb are aiming to raise funds for Pendeen Community Cemetery which is believed to be the first community cemetery in the country.
Cemeteries are usually operated by churches, local authorities, or as private businesses, but Pendeen Community Cemetery will operate as a not-for-profit facility and will be run by volunteers from the community under the umbrella of the Lands End Peninsula Community Land Trust (LEPCLT) a registered charity (no 1142814). It will be open to all (or no) faiths, beliefs, and lifestyles without discrimination. Those wishing to be buried here will simply need to demonstrate a connection to the area.
A public meeting was held in the village in 2017 as fears were growing due to the church graveyard reaching its full capacity, and both the church and the local authority would not take on any new provision. Pendeen residents felt so strongly about the need for a local burial facility that they rallied together and began fund-raising themselves. The generosity of local land owners Terry and Janet Davey boosted the project when they donated part of a field to LEPCLT for the purpose of creating a new community cemetery.
After years of hard work to gain planning permission, Environment Agency and South West Water approval, and raise enough funds to complete the required groundworks in this World Heritage Site area the LEPCLT and Pendeen residents are now celebrating as the groundworks and landscaping for the project are nearing completion. The Community Cemetery is hoped to be operational this Autumn.
The trio are aiming to raise further monies from this ZipWire Challege to help with ongoing maintence, gardening, and insurance costs of the cemetery site and associated car park.