Prior to being elected to Ventnor Town Council, Ventnorian Mark Jeffries had identified that Ventnor cemetery was one area that needed a lot of improvement.
He explains,
“Whilst visiting my relatives graves I had noticed areas and graves that had become overgrown.
“Once elected as a Ventnor Town councillor, I contacted ward councillor, Rodney Downer, who organised a site visit with bereavement services.”
Following the site visit, Mark and fellow councillors were given permission to work on the areas identified as needing improvement. As soon as Steve Cooper was co opted on to Ventnor Town Council for Lowtherville, he was also very keen to help and has given up much of his time assisting.
Grave Uncovered
Mark explains that during their last clearance of overgrowth before Christmas, they revealed a memorial to two young men killed in action (KIA) in the First World War. He said,
“After posting on social media for help in finding any surviving relatives, I was contacted by a woman from Hong Kong saying she thought the two boys were related to her and gave me contact details of her Aunty and cousin.”
Mark got in touch with both and visited her Auntie Libby Boxhall, who still lives in Ventnor.
Ventnor lads, killed in action
During his visit, Libby showed Mark photos of her grandmother and grandfather, Mary and George Gilbert. They were parents of the two lads killed in action: Phillip, aged 20 in Gallipoli and Jack, aged 21 in Ypes.
Mark told News OnTheWight,
“Libby was very grateful for all we are doing and told me to pass on her thanks to all other helpers. I would also like to thank all members for their help and future offers of help.
“Also thanks to Rodney Downer, Steve Cooper and Iain Donald for permission to set up the group.”
Anyone interested in joining the group can contact Mark on [email protected].
