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13th March 2008

Appeal awarded huge Lottery grant

The Chorley Pals Memorial, a registered charity set up by the town's MP, Lindsay Hoyle and Brindle historian Steve Williams have been awarded a grant of £10,000 from the National Lottery 'Awards for All' scheme.

The appeal aims to raise £55,000 for a suitable memorial to the 215 men from the town who joined up as 'Pals' in the First World War, becoming Y Company of the 11th (Service) Battalion (Accrington) East Lancashire Regiment - the famous 'Accrington Pals'. On the 1st July 1916 the Battalion attacked the village of Serre in northern France, at the start of the Battle of the Somme. Like many others on that day, the Chorley Pals suffered a high number of casualties with 31 men being killed and three eventually dying from their wounds. Many have no known grave and are commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, close to the battlefield. A further 59 were wounded that morning, making a total casualty list of 93 out of approximately 175 from the Company who went over the top.

In the now filled in trenches from where the Chorley attacked is the only memorial to the men - a small brass plaque on a concrete plinth, placed there in 1998 and paid for by private donations. Surprisingly there is no memorial to the men in the town, although there is a room in the Astley Hall museum which has the roll of honour of the original Pals who joined up in September 1914.

The appeal is to raise funds for a memorial to the men, by way of a seven foot statue of a soldier in full kit, to be placed in a prominent position close to the town's market. The project will be unique as it has been many years since a war memorial has been commissioned on this scale in the U.K.

The statue of Sir Tom Finney created by
Peter Hodgkinson at the National Football Museum in Preston.

The Trustees have already appointed a sculptor, local artist Peter Hodgkinson from Preston who did the 'Splash' statue of Sir Tom Finney erected outside the National Football Museum at Preston North End's ground in the city. He has also recently completed a statue to northern comedian Les Dawson and one of duo Wallace & Gromit. Part of the 'Awards for All' money will go to pay for initial design work - the drawings and subsequent model will be the launch pad for the appeal, giving local people and potential donors an idea of the finished statue.

Chorley Author John Garwood

A major portion of the £10,000 of the Lottery award will go to publishing a new book about the Chorley Pals. It is to be written by local author John Garwood, an expert on the Chorley Pals and Steve Williams, the Appeal Secretary, who is also a World War One historian having assisted BBC Television in the North West with several WW1 projects over the last eighteen months. The basis of the book will be John Garwood's extensive archive on the Chorley Pals, as well as a book he wrote and last updated in 1992. The intention is for a limited edition of 1,000 books to be printed and sold to raise £12,500 for the appeal; it is hoped they will be available by Remembrance Day in November.

The remaining money from Awards for All will be spent on publicising the appeal to the people of Chorley and surrounding area, as well as maintaining this website - a vital resource for the appeal, at the same time making the history of the Chorley Pals available to a global audience.

Steve Williams said "The award is so vital to us and will definitely help in getting the appeal off the ground". It is hoped that the statue will be unveiled in July 2009, 93 years after the Pals went over the top on that fateful morning.

Somme fundraising trip tickets selling fast

There are only a few places left on the five day coach trip to the First World War battlefield on the Somme in northern France.

Organised and led by WW1 historian and Brindle Historical Society Secretary, Steve Williams, it leaves Brindle on Thursday, 10th July and will stay in Arras for four nights. There will be three days visiting the major sites on the battlefield, including the Accrington Pals trenches and memorial at Serre as well as the impressive Thiepval Memorial.

Anyone interested should contact Steve as soon as possible on 01254 854298 or e-mail him via the Contact Us page.

6th December 2007

Huge boost as appeal gains Charity status

News of the appeal being granted registered charity status by the Charities Commission this week made the front page of the Lancashire Evening Post.

Appeal Chairman Lindsay Hoyle said: "Charity registration gives the appeal more credibility and allows us to raise the profile accordingly. Many Pals worshipped in local churches and worked for Chorley companies, so I ask them and everyone in the town to support the appeal".

The appeal, launched earlier this year, aims to raise enough money for a permanent memorial by way of a statue of a WW1 soldier to be erected in Chorley Town Centre.

After Christmas we plan to step up the fundraising efforts aided, we hope, by a grant from the Lottery 'Awards for All' scheme. Other applications will be made to the Heritage Lottery Fund and the War Memorials Trust but we must show that funds have also come in from local sources.

23rd February 2007

Campaign launched with procession through town

Media interest was high when the Co-Founders, Chorley MP Lindsay Hoyle and local WW1 Historian Steve Williams launched the fundraising appeal in Chorley on Friday, 23rd February.

The date was chosen to coincide with 92nd anniversary of the day the Chorley Pals left the town to go to War in 1915.

Lindsay and Steve walked the route taken by the Pals through the town centre, accompanied by local WW1 historian John Garwood, members of the local media and many other people from the town who joined the procession.

Speaking about the campaign, Lindsay Hoyle MP said:

"The Chorley Pals left Chorley on 23rd February 1915. The majority never returned after taking part in the Battle of the Somme. The fact that no memorial to these brave men has ever been erected is an injustice I want to see put right. I believe that local people will rally to this cause and help raise the funds we need for a statue to be erected in the Town Centre. Many residents had family members who joined the Pals and a memorial is long overdue in order to honour their memory".