3 April 2024The FREE to enter Cemetery of the Year Awards (CYA) is once again available from 31 March until 30 June 2024 and is open to any burial authority (cemetery or churchyard) within the UK.
The three categories of cemeteries in this year’s competition are:
- Large burial grounds above 10,000 graves
- Small/medium burial grounds up to 10,000 graves
- Parish, town and community councils
New: This year we are introducing a photographic element to the competition to allow a subjective section to the scoring process. This will only involve the CYA finalists during adjudication. Extra marks will be awarded for the maintenance and appeal of their cemeteries and used to determine the gold and silver places in their category creating another dimension to the competition.
The winner will receive a CYA gold award certificate and a CYA press release that can be used to promote your work in your local newspaper. Silver award certificates will be presented to the runners-up along with CYA press releases to promote your work.
The competition will also include a new category in this year’s competition: The Best New CYA Entrant Award, for the highest scoring new entry in CYA 2024.
Is Your Cemetery up to Standard exercise
This is a simple survey for your cemetery that will allow you to see where you are in providing a modern service for the bereaved. Please answer honestly – yes or no – to the whole question. Your individual results will never be published, but the accumulative results will be shared with all participants. You can print your own survey and send it to your elected members if you wish. The object is to highlight where your cemetery could be improved, and provide some best practice examples of how to achieve this, often at very little expense.
The BRAMM Memorial Masons Award
A chance for memorial masons to showcase their work, the Memorial Masons Award will be open to any memorial already fitted in a cemetery within the last five years. It will be marked on its design and innovation qualities and the winner will receive £1000 prize money along with a CYA gold award certificate and a CYA press release that can be used to promote your work. Silver awards will be presented to the runners up along with a CYA press release to promote your work. If you have a suitable memorial – simply send a (max of three) photographs of the memorial (after obtaining permission from the family).
To enter any of the categories in this year CYA competition, simply go to www.cemeteryoftheyear.org.uk, where you will be able to enter from 31 March onwards.
CYA winners from last year’s competition and the winner of the Gold BRAMM Memorial Masons Award 2022/23
The CYA competition is designed not only to improve standards within burial grounds but also to encourage compliance with legislation and support best practice with information from leading burial authority organisations.
The Cemetery of the Year Awards 2024 has been supported and endorsed by:
- Memorial Awareness Board (MAB)
- Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management (ICCM)
- The Federation of Burial and Cremation Authorities(FBCA)
- The Society of Local Council Clerks (SLCC)
- British Register of Accredited Memorial Masons (BRAMM)
Good luck.
