Darlington Building Society has stepped in to ensure that a Great War commemorative project initiated by former Mayor of Darlington Cllr Gerald Lee has a lasting legacy.
Cllr Lee challenged school children across Darlington to create artwork and poems to remember the bravery of those who fought in the First World War. The subsequent exhibition in Darlington town centre library was a resounding success and impressed the team at Darlington Building Society so much that they offered to support the publishing of a booklet, featuring 99 poems and artwork.
‘Lest We Forget’ provides a permanent record of the originality of the young people of the town and their interpretation of the War and will be available for sale.
The original pieces will be on show at Durham Cathedral in February 2016.
Colin Fyfe, chief executive of Darlington Building Society, said: “This was a fantastic initiative by the former Mayor and one that we felt should be recognised with a permanent record.
“It is so important that young people do not forget the sacrifices made by their great grandparents’ generation during the Great War and the effects of war on the country. Engaging their imaginations to create poems and artwork to commemorate this period in history has produced some wonderful pieces of work and Darlington Building Society is delighted to supporting the ‘Lest We Forget’ booklet.”
Cllr Gerald Lee said: “I felt that because of the quality of the poetry written on the Futility of War by Darlington Primary children and the excellent art work on Peace and Reconciliation completed by our Secondary students, it was important that their efforts were not wasted and their thoughts and creativity were recorded for future generations. I am confident that everyone who peruses Lest We Forget will be duly Impressed.
“I’m very grateful to Darlington Building Society for enabling the production of this booklet to act as a record of the children’s contributions.”