{"id":679,"date":"2020-11-06T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-11-06T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/InvictaNews\/?p=679"},"modified":"2020-11-08T20:36:42","modified_gmt":"2020-11-08T20:36:42","slug":"a-locked-down-remembrance-sunday-for-kent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/InvictaNews\/2020\/11\/06\/a-locked-down-remembrance-sunday-for-kent\/","title":{"rendered":"A locked down Remembrance Sunday for Kent"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This year Britain will experience its first, and hopefully only, Lockdown Remembrance Sunday. With heavy restrictions on public gatherings, many Remembrance services have been cancelled and the Poppy Appeal has seen its lowest donations ever recorded. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Mayor of Swale, Cllr Paul Stephen, has expressed disappointment that Sittingbourne\u2019s Remembrance Parade has been called off. The historic event normally fills the High Street to honour those who have fallen, and raise a few drinks on their behalf. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI hope that many families throughout the borough will take the time to remember both friends and family members who have lost their lives protecting our way of life.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added: \u201calthough some churches may be open for private prayer and acts of remembrance by individuals under the new guidelines.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Last year’s Remembrance Parade. Credit: Diversity House<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The mayor and mayoress will still visit the War Memorial and lay a wreath on Sunday, and will also attend the 11am service on Wednesday 11th at the Cross of Sacrifice in Sheerness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Mayor has also urged the people of Swale to support the Poppy Appeal in these difficult times, saying: \u201cremember those who have lost their lives by wearing a poppy with pride and raising money to give support to those affected by warfare.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Royal British Legion, which fundraises for the Poppy Appeal, have experienced a lot of difficulty during the pandemic. As many of its members are older veterans, a large proportion of those fundraising are considered high-risk for COVID. As such, many of them weren\u2019t able to spend time in public to sell poppies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ken has been collecting money around Sittingbourne for the past two weeks for the Poppy Appeal. He has volunteered with the RBL for more than four years, and has lost many fellow volunteers this year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Ken fundraising in Sittingbourne. Credit: Asda<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNobody thought we were going to be here because of the lockdown,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe want to parade as our legion, but we\u2019re not allowed to. We will of course go up and lay our wreaths at the War Memorial this Sunday, but whether we can in the future no one can really say. Hopefully this won\u2019t affect Remembrance in the years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said: \u201cWe\u2019re very grateful to everyone that has contributed this year, but unfortunately we\u2019ve not been able to make up for the reduction in people out and about town.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Traditionally, the Royal British Legion and ex-military gathered in The Ypres Tavern before the Remembrance Parade each year, but the pub has been forced to close. This has increased the difficulty to retain members for the RBL, and will forever change Swale\u2019s Remembrance marches. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However Ken is optimistic for the future, saying \u201cthe Remembrance Parade will be massive next year, if we\u2019re clear to have it. I\u2019ve heard from vets all around the country wanting to join in and respect those fallen throughout the year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll be a beautiful sight to see.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To see how Kent commemorated Remembrance Sunday despite the lockdown, click here<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This year Britain will experience its first, and hopefully only, Lockdown Remembrance Sunday. With heavy restrictions on public gatherings, many Remembrance services have been cancelled and the Poppy Appeal has seen its lowest donations ever recorded.  The Mayor of Swale,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":681,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":{"x":"0.49","y":"0.29"}},"categories":[15,7,8],"tags":[20,120,118,119],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/InvictaNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/InvictaNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/InvictaNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/InvictaNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/InvictaNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=679"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/InvictaNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1071,"href":"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/InvictaNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679\/revisions\/1071"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/InvictaNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/InvictaNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/InvictaNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/InvictaNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}