Council cuts hound us even after death it seems (From Daily Echo)

Council cuts hound us even after death it seems

9:54am Friday 10th August 2012 in Editor Ian Murray's Blog

Even in death it seems, we cannot escape the cuts.
Yesterday the Daily Echo reported how Southampton City Council is making redundant Jim Emery who has been caretaker of the Hollybrook Cemetery for the last 26-years.
In that time he has helped untold thousands of mourners attending the cemetery to tend the graves of their loved ones. And in an easy to understand way he has helped the departed by doing so.
In axing Jim’s job – and forcing him from his home at the cemetery just two years before his retirement – the council shows its lack of respect, not just for Jim and all he has done, but for the families and even the dead themselves.
Jim’s role will be replaced by a variety of people who will be tasked to keep the cemetery tidy and safe. May be this will work, but I doubt if they will be able to do the task with the care and commitment of a full time warden.
How sad.
When I go I will most likely be turned to ashes to be scattered, quite where I haven’t yet decided. But if I was to change my mind and opt to be buried I would like to think there was a Jim on hand to look after those who need the comfort of knowing I am well cared for. And that there was, somewhere up there – just six feet up there – someone who was looking out for me.