Activity Days at Sun Rising

A number of Activity Days take place at the burial ground each year, designed to give families and the local community an opportunity to get involved. All are welcome to attend any of our events.

Tree Planting Weekend

This year our tree planting weekends took place on 28 - 29 November 2009 with some families coming on the following few weekends. It is at this time of year that we put in most of our trees, including those planted on graves, in the memorial area and around the edges of the site. If you have any queries, or would like to plant a tree in memory of a loved one, have a look at our Memorial Tree page and get in touch.

Spring Nature Watch Day

Saturday 3 April 2010 will be the first of a new series of Nature Watch days at Sun Rising. The purpose of our Nature Watch days is to make a comprehensive list of all the flora and fauna that are seen at the burial ground, and to watch just how this grows as the nature reserve develops. Our results will be shown on the website.

With not many flowers out so early, on this date we shall be looking for spring bulbs and flowers, trees coming into leaf, the very first insects, and most importantly the birds - seen at the burial ground before the trees come into leaf and start to hide them. We are happy to have internationally reknowned ornithologist Robin Restall with us to help identify the LBJs - those 'little brown jobs' that fly past too quickly to see.

Summer Nature Watch and Open Days

Our Summer Nature Watch will co-incide with our summer Open Day this year, taking place over the whole weekend of 22 - 23 May 2010. Our Nature Watch will continue the documenting of flora and fauna found at the burial ground, including summer flowers, grasses, insects and birds.

Open Days are gentle and relaxed affairs at Sun Rising. Our staff are on hand all day to answer any questions you might have, whether about the ecology and future vision of the site itself, the practicalities of buying plots in advance, or the preparing for or arranging a funeral. We even have a catalogue of environmentally-friendly coffins you can peruse.

All are very welcome to attend. You can take a tour around the site with a member of staff or stroll by yourself. In our little marquee there will be fairtrade organic teas and coffee, and homemade cake, or bring a picnic.

Late Summer Nature Watch

We shall have our last nature watch day of the year sometime in late August or early September, before the last of the grass is cut. This will be a chance to see the late flowers, the moths, butterflies and grasshoppers that make their home at the burial ground.