How Barnet Council and Capita insult the memory of our loved ones at Hendon Cemetery

If you have ever wondered what privatisation means in practise, when it comes to Council services, you need look no further than Hendon Cemetery. I visit this regularly. My parents and grandparents are buried there, as well as Aunts, Uncles and some of my best friends. When my Father was buried there in 1987, it was spotless, a feature of civic pride. I felt it was a fitting place for my Father to be laid to rest. He was an RAF bomber pilot (you can read of his heroism here - http://aircrewremembered.com/tichborne-lawrence-franklin.html ). I always hae felt that if I was a tenth the man my father was, I'd have done alright in my life.

In 2014, as part of the outsourcing contract with Capita, Barnet Council came to an agreement with Capita to run the cemetery. The idea was that Capita could turn my father's final resting place into a cash generating pot of gold. You may wonder how you make more money out of a Cemetery. Sadly there are three ways. The first is that you cut back on maintenance. The second way is that you charge people more to bury their dead and the third is that you rent it out for events and TV/Filming. Sadly Capita have vigorously persued this. Last April I made a short film detailing the neglect inside the cemetery. I hoped that this film would explain one of the reasons I allowed my name to be put forward to run as a candidate in the local elections.


I am sorry to report that it is no better today. Today I posted a series of tweets showing just how awful the external appearance of the Cemetery from the road appears. Are Barnet Council and Capita really happy to have this as an advert for how they run things and treat our dead loved ones.

How @Capita have colluded with @Barnet to let Hendon cemetery go to rack and ruin #1 - fences and walls in terrible state of disrepair pic.twitter.com/wnAg3Odmik

— Roger Tichborne/RogT #CTID (@Barneteye) January 15, 2019

Capita Mausoleum

Have a look at this thread. Perhaps the most appalling thing of all, from my perspective was the shoddy, laminated advert for slots in the Mausoleum. The worst of all of these is this one, adertising slots in the mausoleum for £10,000 for a hunded year lease on a slot.  I showed my wife this picture and she said "That is really tasteless, how can you think that's funny". She had thought that this was something I'd knocked up as a joke. I am sorry to say that it isn't. I have never seen anything as ugly in all my life and to take a shoddy picture, laminate it and stick it over the previous, tasteful opening hours time is sickening.

It really doesn't seem to occur to Capita or the Conservatives who run Barnet Council that many people who visit the cemetary are elderly people who just want quiet time with a loved one. They need a large, clearly written sign with opening hours on. Sticking these shoddy signs over these details is simply irresponsible.

How do you think I feel when I see this as I go to pay my respects to my father and mother. Let me tell you. I saw this and turned around and went home. I was simply no longer in the right state of mind to spend any time with my parents memories. I was bloody furious, so I came straight home and wrote this f'ing blog. If ever you wonder why I do all this, just think for a second how I feel today.

And you know what makes me sadder than anything. I used to want to be buried there next to them. I have changed my mind. Now I wish to be cremated and have my ashes scattered over Areendene. I'm sure that sooner or later the Tories and Capita will ruin that as well, but at least I won't die knowing I'll be lining the pockets of such sickening leeches.