Naturalist and author Stephen Moss, is a nature writer, broadcaster and wildlife television producer. Stephen first came across Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park many years ago, when he filmed  BBC1 series ‘Britain’s Big Wildlife Revival.’ He later featured the cemetery park in his book ‘Wild Kingdom: Bringing Back Britain’s Wildlife’, which was nominated for the Wainwright Prize for nature writing.

Stewart was instrumental in the formation of the Friends as a local charity. As a local councillor and former resident of Lockhart Street, Stewart recognised the unique value and benefits of Tower Hamlets Cemetery, and the efforts to preserve and promote the site as a space for nature as well as history and reflection. He helped set up the Friends back in 1990, securing the first Service Level Agreement with the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. In 1993, he helped to secure the funding for the Soanes Field Centre, quite a unique premises at the time as a dedicated ecology and learning centre, which has been essential to our work ever since.

Terry has been an ambassador and hands-on supporter of the Friends for decades. His extensive (and ongoing!) support of the organisation and his unparalleled contribution to conservation within the cemetery park and the wider borough has inspired change in Tower Hamlets. For 22 years, Terry was the environmental education officer of a local charity working with schools and community groups to enrich parks, school grounds and community gardens for biodiversity and education. Terry is a general naturalist, and has helped make the cemetery park exceptionally rich in wildflowers and butterflies.

Doreen is known to many as a key driving force behind the Friends, as well as the East London History Society. Doreen has a long history with the Cemetery Park, from the protests against the Greater London Authority who had sought to demolish the former Victorian-era cemetery to make way for housing and a sanitized public park, through to spearheading many significant research and heritage projects. This includes many projects, among them the research into the 500 Barnardo’s Children and the erection of the much-loved Cockney Sparrow statue, as well as research into the service men and civilians impacted by World Wars, who are honoured at the FoTHCP’s annual Remembrance Sunday service. Doreen also determined the location of Victoria Cross recipient, Major John Buckley, who was buried in a pauper’s grave, after cross-referencing army archives and cemetery records. 

Marilyn is similarly well-known to regular conservation and heritage volunteers, as well as many who have attended the summer fair or dedicated tours across a range of topics. Marilyn first became involved with the (precursor) to the Friends when the GLA threatened to remove graves from the site, leaving only ‘Sanctuary Woods’. Thankfully through extensive effort, the current 31-acre site was protected. Since then Marilyn has given countless hours of time and effort into the organisation, and her notes and insights are immeasurably valued by staff, trustees and volunteers.

Diane was particularly instrumental in championing heritage within the Friends, leading to the establishment of the role of Heritage Officer and being a significant contributor to the Friends’ Conservation Management Plan. She has also led recurrent weekly volunteering sessions centred on heritage. Her research and records across a number of topics and themes have laid a solid foundation for future work and much of the content and interpretation used in the park today. So many park visitors and supporters have been made aware of the work of the Friends through family history and grave enquiries, an essential role of the organisation.