A TikToker has made £30,000 with his side hustle of cleaning graves which he says is ‘peaceful’ and ‘satisfying’.
Shaun Tookey, 30, has cleaned more than 100 graves since he began in May 2023.
Families pay him between £350 and £450 to clean the headstones belonging to loved ones – and it can take him up to two hours a job.
He got the side hustle idea while working as a tree surgeon in a graveyard and wondered who was looking after the graves.
Shaun realised it was left to the family members and launched a TikTok page offering his services and started getting requests.
Shaun Tookey, 30, has cleaned more than 100 graves since he began in May 2023
One of the graves after Shaun cleaned it
Shaun posts his work onto TikTok to attract new customers
Now Shaun has a dream of turning this side hustle into his main money maker and often cleans on the weekends or during his annual leave.
Shaun from Hertford, East Hertfordshire, said: ‘I have had the idea for 12 years but I didn’t have the funds to start up myself until last year.
‘Most of the jobs I do are on weekends or I take time out of my day to go clean a grave.
‘It would be my dream to go full-time with this but I am too scared to jump ship right now.
‘When I am cleaning in a cemetery people will come over to me and say they didn’t realise this service existed in the UK.
‘It is such a peaceful and satisfying job – especially when you see the transformations.’
He added: ‘[When I first had the idea for the side hustle] I didn’t have the funds to start up by myself – I was only an apprentice trainee surgeon at the time.
‘I used to work on a lot of trees in the cemetery and one day I was climbing the tree and I just wondered who cleaned them.
‘I saw a gap in the market and it has all paid off.’
Shaun estimates he has cleaned well over 100 graves and shares his transformations on TikTok – @thegravecleaner.
Some of his clients come from word of mouth but Shaun says a lot of interest comes from his social media.
Now Shaun has a dream of turning this side hustle into his main money maker and often cleans on the weekends or during his annual leave
Shaun at work cleaning gravestones
Shaun says he has made £30,000 through his side hustle
Shaun estimates he has cleaned well over 100 graves and shares his transformations on TikTok – @thegravecleaner
He said: ‘Most of my jobs are through social media, it is such a big platform and my videos are getting a lot better.
‘I also go round posting leaflets and cards.
‘When I go to a cemetery for a job people will often come up to me and say they didn’t know this service existed in the UK.’
He said: ‘It all depends on the type of grave, what sort of lettering it has.
‘Whether or not the family want gold leaf lettering then I can do that and if they just want paint I can supply that.
‘I have my standard rates and I do add-ons.’
Shaun cleans between two to four graves a day.
He said: ‘It can vary, I also don’t want to take the mick with how much time off I take.
‘I can do four a day on average but if they are big jobs I can get two done.
‘If it is a headstone I am cleaning then that can take between 30 minutes to an hour but the bigger graves can take a few hours.’