The Friends of Hartwood Paupers Cemetery Named as the National Lottery Scottish Project of the Year

That the Parliament congratulates the Friends of Hartwood Paupers Cemetery group, and all of its volunteers from across Airdrie, Shotts, Wishaw, Motherwell and the wider Lanarkshire community, on receiving the National Lottery Scottish Project of the Year 2023 award; notes that Friends of Hartwood Paupers Cemetery was also the runner-up in the UK Project of the Year category, which, it considers, highlights the incredible effort from everyone involved in the initiative, as well as the positive impact of the project; understands that the volunteers have transformed the Old Lanarkshire Asylum (Hartwood) Cemetery, which lay derelict, into a beautiful space of remembrance and respect; further understands that, from 1895 to 1954, there were 1,255 people interred in 634 mainly anonymous graves within the small area; acknowledges what it sees as the extensive and painstaking research undertaken by the volunteers to give those who rest there their right to be remembered, with dignity, by name instead of a plot number, in what it sees as an incredible act of compassion and kindness; further acknowledges that, importantly, the project has enabled the reuniting of living family members with their relatives who are resting in the cemetery; notes what it sees as the positive impact that the project has had on the wider community and the fantastic work that it understands it has done in reducing the stigma that is so often associated with mental health; thanks everyone involved and congratulates them on receiving recognition for their incredible work, and wishes them the best for the future.