The Commonwealth War Graves Foundation (CWGF) was founded in 2017 as the charitable arm of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC). Founded by Royal Charter in 1917, the CWGC works on behalf of the Governments of Canada, Australia, India, New Zealand, South Africa and the United Kingdom to commemorate the 1.7 million men and women from the Commonwealth who lost their lives in the two World Wars. The Commission’s mission is to ensure those who died in service, or as a result of conflict, are commemorated so that they, and the human cost of war, are remembered for ever.

The Foundation’s objectives are to engage people – especially the young – with the Commission’s work. This is done through a range of innovative heritage outreach activities, volunteer training programmes, local research opportunities and partnerships. The Foundation engages new audiences with the overall aim of ‘keeping their stories alive’.

Some of the programmes the Maple Leaf Trust supports are:

The Speakers & Tour Guides’ Programme

The Commonwealth War Graves offers free talks and tours to groups across the UK on a range of topics, as diverse as the history of the Commission and the individuals commemorated, to conservation and the horticulture of its sites. The Programme aims to connect with schools, colleges and universities as well as social and community groups to explain the work of the Commonwealth War Graves and share the stories of the men and women it commemorates.

Eyes On, Hands On Volunteer Programme

Eyes On, Hands On, a flagship volunteer Programme, started in 2019. Since then, over 2,000 volunteers have been trained to inspecting the 150,000 ‘scattered’ graves the Commission maintains throughout the UK (‘scattered’ refers to an individual headstone placed on its own in a churchyard, rather than located in a designated war grave plot). Volunteers ‘clean and clear’ plots, reporting any issues to the Commission to be dealt with swiftly, enabling the CWGC’s Operations Team to direct resources to where the need is greatest.

Tree planting

Stratford-upon-Avon cemetery in the West Midlands has 180 CWGC commemorated casualties; 98 of those served with Canadian forces. This site was formally dedicated in 1949 by the Canadian High Commissioner and the Maple Trees placed in the sunken garden in the plot were donated by the Horticultural Society of Ontario. Two of these trees had to be felled in 2022 due to disease. With the generous support of the Maple Leaf Trust, these two trees were replaced in late 2024, so the Maple leaves on the headstones of the Canadians commemorated here are once again shaded by Maple trees.