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.
March through Chorley launching the campaign
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”.
