Ashington to commemorate centenary of the Armistice with help from grant

Ashington Parish Council is celebrating the award of an Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust Grant. Picture by Jon Rigby

The grant will be used to fund a project to commemorate the centenary of the Armistice in Ashington.

Eleven silhouettes funded by the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust, representing 11 men from the village who are commemorated on the church memorial who lost their lives during the war, will form the centrepiece at a commemorative afternoon tea and presentation to be held in the Ashington Centre on Saturday.

70 invited guests from the village will hear about Ashington’s First World War connections, about the men who lost their lives and importantly also about those who served and returned.

Councillor Graeme MacPherson, who is leading on the delivery of the project said: “During the research for the project, it became clear that the memorial in the village only told part of the story. One of the men commemorated in Ashington was one of three brothers and a step brother from the same family who all lost their lives during the war. A second pair of brothers who lived in the village were also killed, but as the family moved during the war, they are not commemorated locally.”

The project also funded the publication of a commemorative booklet which tells the story of 39 men from Ashington who served during the first world war, some who returned, others who didn’t. As a legacy the Parish council also plan to place a memorial bench in the village to create a permanent commemoration of those who served.

Several surviving relatives have contributed photographs and information to the project, and the silhouettes have also been used by the community centre during their Centenary Band concert earlier this month and will appear again at the Ashington Parish Church service of remembrance on Sunday November, where they provide a powerful reminder of those from the village who made the ultimate sacrifice.

The award was made under the Armistice and Armed Forces Communities programme, which makes awards to bring communities together to remember; and to think about the Armed Forces today.