Armed Forces Day, Celebrate What Makes Us Great
Armed Forces Day is a national event that takes place on Saturday June 29th.
The annual event is a chance for the public to commemorate the service of the men and women in the British Armed Forces. It’s not the same Remembrance Day which focuses on honouring the fallen, Armed Forces Day celebrates the achievements and service of our current and ex-service personal.
Introduced in 2006 it has been held on the last Saturday of June to commemorate the anniversary of the first Victoria Cross being awarded back in 1857.
Events are held up and down the country and Workington is no exception. The local Armed Forces Day is now in its tenth year and the Workington branch of the British Legion have a full day of festivities planned that kick of at 11am with a parade from Pow Street to Vulcan Park for a drum head service.
Due to their tireless work, organisers Lesley Jackson and Pat Lavin were recently invited to attend a garden party at Buckingham Palace, which was an unexpected honour said Lesley: ”We don’t know who nominated us for the Queen’s Garden Party but we were absolutely delighted, it was very exciting. The nomination came because of the work we do for Armed Forces Day but we don’t organise it to be recognised, we’re proud to do it and it’s something we enjoy.”
Originally the Workington Armed Forces Day celebrations came about after Lesley stumbled on a parade in Cardiff in 2009. Back in Workington she found that only a single flag had been raised and she was determined to do something about it the next year.
“I didn’t know anything about it at the time.” said Lesley. “But Armed Forces Day is for the whole community to come together and show their support for the men and women who make up our armed forces whether they’re current serving troops, service families, veterans or cadets. It’s also a great way for veterans to catch up with their friends and for cadets to meet our veterans.
We invite anybody in the armed services or veterans to come along and join in, you’ll be very welcome and we’d love to see you on parade. If you have a brother, sister or other family in the armed forces please join us, we want the whole forces family to come together and make new friends, or catch up with old ones.”
The Tyneside Pipe Band will lead the parade and provide entertainment back at the club later in the day. The Dragoons Guards, Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, Scots Guards, Royal Engineers, Naval association and many more will take part in the parade.
The Parade Marshall is a local lad, Staff Sergeant Lee Taylor, from the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.
After the drum head service in Vulcan Park, the parade will march back to the British Legion Club for a full day of activities including lunch and afternoon tea, dance, displays from the cadets, face painting, bouncy castle, games, entertainment, dancing and most importantly meeting old and new friends.
Armed Forces Day is about the whole community coming together and showing their appreciation for all our forces. Maybe raising a glass to missing friends, but celebration is really what the day is all about.
Entertainment starts at 2 pm with Sam Davidson, followed by Britain’s Got Talent finalists, The D-Day Darlings. These lovely ladies are regulars at the event and their rousing war time renditions will be a highlight of the day. The Darlings are raising money for the poppy appeal so they will be offering kisses for a fee. You can expect to see plenty of red lipstick marks on cheeks.
Local duo Renaissance will follow at 6 and Steve Verne will wrap up the day at 8pm.
Come along and wave your flags, this is a community event and it’s open for everyone to join in and show your appreciation of our armed forces.
For more information visit the Facebook page @workingtonroyal.britishlegion
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