The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Perthshire village bids to add Tommy poppy statue to war memorial.
Pieces have appeared in diverse range of places including Giant’s Causeway and Tynecastle Park
A community is banding together to make an addition to their war memorial in time for the centenary of its creation.
Aberuthven was one of the first outdoor war memorials erected in Perth and Kinross, being unveiled in late October 1919.
Funds for the original free-standing stone cross then were raised by the local community, who together collected £451, the equivalent of £23,094 in 2019.
The surplus cash was split between the seven men who returned from the fighting with disabilities.
Now the community is once again aiming to raise funds, which will be spent on a sculpture of a soldier in silhouette to watch over the original 100-yearold monument. The 6ft tall sculptures were part of an art project called There But Not There, which saw them placed at sites as diverse as the Giant’s Causeway in County Antrim and the Heart of Midlothian football club in Edinburgh.
The idea was the brainchild of Pauline Fyfe, of the Aberuthven Village Hall Trust.
She said: “When we had our memorial service in November we had done a special project and looked at the names of people on the war memorial.
“We were having teas and coffees in the church hall after laying the wreaths and we got talking about the Tommy silhouette.
“It will cost £750 to buy one and we’ve agreed as a community that it’s something we should do.
“It was the first outdoor war memorial erected in Perthshire and all the money for it was raised by the village.
“It was commissioned for the 1919 Armistice Day and we thought it would be a fitting tribute for the village to again raise the money under its own steam by November.
“We’ll put the Tommy at the side of the war memorial at the left-hand side. So, as you stand looking at the memorial, you’ll be able to see through it.”
The Trust will be holding a fundraising coffee afternoon and sale at the village hall tomorrow from 1pm.
It will cost £750 to buy one and we’ve agreed as a community that it’s something we should do. PAULINE FYFE, ABERUTHVEN VILLAGE HALL TRUST