Honouring the fallen in Covid-safe service
RESIDENTS of Charnwood are being asked to mark Remembrance Sunday at home this year and to find other ways to honour those who served and gave their lives in the line of duty.
In line with national Government guidance on social distancing, most events across the country have been scaled back or cancelled.
On Sunday November 8, a small service attended by invite only will be held at the Carillon Tower in Queen’s Park, at 10.45am, led by Reverend Wendy Dalrymple, chaplain for the Loughborough branch of the Royal British Legion.
A small number of invited guests will attend, and to ensure the safety of all those participating and to comply with social distancing measures, Queen’s Park will be closed to the public that morning, until after the service.
Members of the public can watch the service live on the council’s Facebook page, and photos from the service will be published across social media.
There will be no service or event at Queen’s Park on November 11 to commemorate Armistice Day.
The mayor of Charnwood, councillor David Snartt, said: “It is a great shame that we cannot all come together to commemorate Remembrance Day this year.
“It is important that we give our thanks to all who served and died for our country and honour those veterans and actively serving members of the armed services, and even more important that we do so from the safety of our own homes.
“I hope that we will be able to come together next year on Remembrance Sunday and share a two minutes silence for all our heroes.”
The Royal British Legion has shared a number of alternative ways for residents to commemorate Remembrance Day from home, including creating a Remembrance space in your garden by planting plants that have a connection to Remembrance. People can also pay their respects using Zoom, Facebook or another online meeting resource to host an online Remembrance service or activity, or create an online exhibition of Remembrance-related photos from local residents that schools or others could use to discuss local Remembrance activities. Full details of information and resources can be found on the Royal British Legion website.
Covid-19 has also meant that the Legion’s 2020 Poppy Appeal has had to go online, but families can still get involved by downloading and colouring in a Remembrance Poppy to display in their window as a show of support, available on the Poppy Appeal website. The council is keen to gather and share photos, videos, stories and artwork of residents commemorating Remembrance 2020 from their home to help capture the occasion.
People can tag the council in their celebrations on Twitter @CharnwoodBC or on Facebook.
Your submissions could be used to form part of the Isolated but Inspired project, a digital time capsule to document this time in social history, which is being co-ordinated by Leicestershire’s museum service.
For full information about Remembrance 2020, including what is happening in the villages around Charnwood, and activities to do at home and more, visit the Charnwood Borough Council website.