Help build memorial to honour police who sacrificed their lives
POLICE officers who die protecting the public are to be recognised by a national memorial that forever remembers their bravery in the line of duty.
A campaign backed by the Daily Express and our sister paper the Sunday Express is being launched to raise funds for the UK Police Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum (NMA) in Staffordshire.
It will be inscribed with the names of more than 1,400 officers and staff who died from injuries sustained while carrying out their lawful duties.
The new Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick writes exclusively below in the Daily Express today about “the fragility of the thin blue line protecting the public”.
To honour those who have laid down their lives, the Daily Express is backing a nationwide campaign to raise funds to build the 50ft high memorial that will stand within a dedicated remembrance garden.
It will become a place of reflection and complement other sites around the country, notably the National Police Memorial in The Mall in London.
Heroism
Prime Minister Theresa May is backing the project, which will cost an estimated £4million, of which £2.5million has already been secured through central government and other donors. Another £1.5million is needed.
The funds will be for the memorial but will also go towards supporting families of officers who have died on duty, setting up a “digital memorial” in the form of an interactive website that will tell individual stories of bravery and establish a school outreach programme.
The fundraising campaign is being officially launched next month in partnership with Express Newspapers and talk radio station LBC.
Paul Ashford, editorial director of Express Newspapers, said: “We are backing the memorial because Daily and Sunday Express readers recognise the role of the police in protecting our community, sometimes even at the cost of their own lives.
“And they want that heroism and sacrifice of thousands of policemen and women to be honoured with a national memorial of the highest order at the National Arboretum.” Sir Hugh Orde, chairman of the UK Police Memorial Trust, said: “Four weeks ago a vicious and completely unprovoked attack occurred in our capital city which saw the murder of PC Keith Palmer and four other innocent members of the public.
“PC Palmer’s death has put greater emphasis on the need to create a place where the nation can honour and commemorate our police service and where family, friends and colleagues of those killed on duty can go to carry out personal acts of remembrance.
“The NMA is where the nation can go to remember our services and the men and women who have been killed in the course of their duty for their country.”