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Chorley Pals Memorial Appeal Announcement

Drawing of the proposed statue by local artist Peter Hodgkinson

Lindsay Hoyle, MP for Chorley and Chairman of the Chorley Pals Memorial Appeal announced at a news conference in Astley Hall Chorley on Friday, 4th July that the Pals statue will be erected in the town in 2009.

It follows a donation of £65,000 from a donor who wishes to remain anonymous at this stage.

The next stage of the campaign will be to raise a further £30,000 for the plinth which will have on it the names of the Chorley Pals who went over the top on the Somme on the 1st July 1916. Lindsay Hoyle and local WW1 Historian Steve Williams, co-founders of the Pals appeal, are confident that local people and businesses in the town will rally round to raise the amount.

The memorial will be a seven foot statue of a WW1 soldier going over the top in full battle kit, placed on an eight foot plinth. Approaches have already been made to Chorley Borough Council to find a suitable location for the memorial in the town centre. Lindsay Hoyle said "This is great news for the town and the families of Pals".

Chorley Pals Memorial is a registered charity no. 1121707