Plaque laying ceremony
A beautiful and moving plaque laying ceremony was held at the Mansfield’s Heroes Memorial on Thursday 16th of June 2011, when family members of the first seven men to be honoured on the memorial placed individual plaques in the wall.
Each plaque contains the name, rank and regiment of the serviceman along with the theatre of conflict and the year in which he was killed.
For many of the families it proved a very moving and emotional private event; the sense of closure for many was almost tangible as they realised that their loss and the price paid was now being recognised.
Several of the families inserted photographs of their loved ones behind the plaques in very personal gestures.
It as a fitting ceremony for a memorial that is all about the community and the price paid by its members.
Latest News on Fundraising
Firstly, please accept our apologies for not updating this site more often than we have. All of the volunteers have been extremely busy in recent months working on the campaign, running their own businesses and managing their own lives in between.
A lot has happened since the last news post.
The Licence from Mansfield District Council for us to manage the land and the planning permission to build the memorial finally went through in January this year. We feared the worst with the bad weather and thought we might lose not only time, but more importantly, the funding from Nottinghamshire County Council. We would like to pay tribute to the way NCC has supported us in this campaign. The Council’s representatives have been excellent ambassadors and have done all they can in tricky circumstances to make sure the memorial is built to to standard, style and quality we know it deserves.
The Fund is now a registered charity, which means we can apply for additional support, help and advice from a variety of sources. We have already made great use of this and will be adding to the Trust’s funds via the War Memorial Commission and it’s VAT return service.
The ground works and first course of stone have been laid for the new memorial. On the 11th of March six out of the seven families with servicemen who will be remembered on the memorial attended a very moving stone laying ceremony at Carr Bank Park. It was a really emotional moment for all of us involved with the memorial to see families thinking about men who had given their lives in Korea, The Falklands, Northern Ireland, and Afghanistan; the poignancy of the span of time between these men paying the ultimate sacrifice was not lost on anyone there.
We are planning an official opening ceremony for the memorial which will probably take place in early summer this year. There will be an open invitation to the people of Mansfield to attend the event, so please do keep in touch.
Latest on fundraising; 10th June 2010
Thanks to the magnificent efforts of all our fantastic supporters the Mansfield’s Heroes Memorial Fund is now just short of having £30,000 in the bank. The Fund has been approved as a project for support by Nottinghamshire County Council with a promise of another £30,000 to help us build the new memorial.
We cannot express enough our gratitude for the sterling efforts of the supporters in getting us this far. At present we are in discussion with Mansfield District Council and Nottinghamshire County Council about the final placing and design for the memorial. Once we have designs finalised we will be making them available for everyone to comment on.
News Update 28th June
Mansfield’s Heroes T Shirts can now be purchased from
Roll of Honour
Can YOU help us find the Heroes of Mansfield?
We are seeking the names of any fallen heroes since the Second World War.
Anyone with information about a Mansfield hero should call Graham Parker on 07977 448 306 or email him at heroes@mansfield-heroes.org.uk or visit the Mansfield Heroes group on Facebook and leave information there.