Bruce McLaren's grave restored after being vandalised. Photo: Supplied / The Grave Guardians
After the graves of a Kiwi motorsport legend and his wife were vandalised, an organisation stepped up to help - the way they have for so many for over 30 years.
The family was shocked by the damage to the headstones of Bruce McLaren and his wife Patty at Waikumete Cemetery, which had been sprayed with gold paint and had toy cars stuck onto them. The Bruce McLaren Trust said the headstone of his mother, Ruth, and father Les - known as Pop - had also been damaged.
But according to George Stewart-Dalzell of The Grave Guardians - an organisation that specialises in grave restoration - it's an all too common sight.
Her team wasted no time in offering to repair the family's headstones, with Stewart-Dalzell telling RNZ it was an easy decision.
"Same as all the others - it's the right thing to do. Whenever we were in that part of Waikumete I'd wander by and give the McLaren family stones a wipe with a soft cloth just out of respect," she said.
"A lot of fans visit.
"I was quite upset to see what had been done to them - more so because they are well-known headstones. Bruce was a local legend."
The grave Kiwi motorsport legend Bruce McLaren was painted gold. Photo: Supplied / The Grave Guardians
Stewart-Dalzell said vandalism and unconsented interference of headstones was a regular occurrence.
She said someone often sprays obscenities in Hillsborough, but others attempted to clean graves using wrong methods without permission.
"In this case, they usually think the stone is uncared for just because its unkept. In reality it's more often that family only visit every few years, but the motive of these people usually comes from a better place.
"They just don't understand that good intentions still do significant damage to stones."
Gold paint left behind after Kiwi motorsport legend Bruce McLaren's grave was vandalised. Photo: Supplied / The Grave Guardians
'Treated each one the same as if it was my family'
The Grave Guardians first started in 1993 as a hobby, Stewart-Dalzell said.
She said she was inspired to split the organisation into two pathways - one as charitable, and the other as chargeable - with 100 percent of profits after cost going into covering material for any jobs done voluntarily.
"We are in the process of changing the constitution so that The Grave Guardians will formally pass all profits for charitable purposes into a registered charitable trust that we are in the final stages of setting up.
"This is because demand for genuine help has increased 100-fold in the last few years."
She said in the 32 years that The Grave Guardians have been operating, she has never charged any work done in relation to babies, children or youth. They also do not charge for work relating to emergency responders and veterans.
"These amazing people dedicated parts or all of their careers to serving our communities - it's our way of saying thanks," she said.
Stewart-Dalzell said the organisation was flat out in the drier seasons.
Protection cover and notice on the graves of Bruce McLaren and his family. Photo: Supplied / The Grave Guardians
She joked security staff would often have to chase them out of cemeteries so they could lock the gates.
"We can be in a cemetery watching the sun rise, and still be there packing up to leave as we begin sliding into darkness."
It was difficult to articulate how much it meant to her and the organisation to help restore headstones for the families of loved ones.
"We can get quite emotionally invested in every single stone. Right from the beginning, I've treated each one the same as if it was my family," she said.
"I'm also neurodiverse, I get very retentive about standards of work. My daughter is very dedicated to finding the much older graves of youngsters.
"She's just beginning a project that will attempt to get some sort of marker in place for every unmarked small person who the world lost way too soon."
'She held my hand and started to cry'
A job that particularly stood out to Stewart-Dalzell was when a 90-year-old mother reached out asking if The Grave Guardians could look at a few stones for her.
"When I arrived, I found a family plot that was all six of her children and her husband. None of her children had made it beyond 10."
The woman said she wanted the grave looking loved again because someone had sprayed graffiti over the stones and she couldn't get it off.
"I felt her heartbreak. We stood side by side looking at the mess. She held my hand and started to cry, which tipped me over the edge as well," she said.
Stewart-Dalzell said the woman offered to pay any amount to fix it so she could see how it should be before she died.
When Stewart-Dalzell met with her again after fixing it, she gave her an invoice with nothing owed.
"I told her that her heart and soul was buried in that ground. I can clearly hear her telling me I had made a very old lady happy again and that she felt it was ok to join them soon," she said.
She said she still regularly travels to visit the woman and her young family at her request, placing fresh peonies as soon as they are in season.
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