FUNDRAISING is now underway to secure the £100,000 needed to create a permanent site for the Poppy of Honour National Memorial in the Somerset Wood and the team behind this landmark project have launched a QR code to make donations easy.

Once the striking pavilion designed for the Poppy of Honour is erected, visitors to Somerset Wood within the Maidenbrook Country Park north of Taunton will be able to access the National Memorial free of charge.

Ex-serviceman and Somerset resident Terry Williams came up with the idea for the Poppy of Honour in 2018 to honour British and Commonwealth Servicemen and Servicewomen listed as killed or missing in World War 1.

The giant poppy-shaped structure incorporates 1,117,635 individual remembrance poppies, hand-written with painstaking care to bear the Rank, Name and official Date of Loss of each individual.

The parish councils of Cheddon Fitzpaine and West Monkton, who are responsible for the siting of this unique and significant installation for Somerset, are seeking donations of both individual and corporate nature, additionally offering local businesses the opportunity to be recognised as part of the installation of this new National Memorial.

Alan Hall of the Somerset Wood Joint Committee said: "We know that local businesses and the wider Somerset community are hugely supportive of the Armed Forces and associated remembrance movement.

“Making a financial contribution which enables this remarkable project to come to fruition would be a fantastic way to demonstrate individual support of service men and women, veterans, and their families - as well as offering a unique opportunity for businesses to align their brand with a Somerset project of National Memorial significance."

If you require any further information or would like to pledge your support other than through the QR code, please contact Amy Shepherd clerk@westmonktonparishcouncil.gov.uk