Remembrance Day 2020 is one of the many public events this year that will not take place in its usual form because of the coronavirus pandemic – but that does not mean we cannot pay our respects to the fallen.
The public has been asked to stay away from the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday 2020 in line with the measures put in place to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus, while other gatherings around the country will not go ahead as they normally do at this time of year.
In a year where parades may not be possible, and services are socially distanced, BFBS is inviting the military community to join them in a virtual act of Remembrance.
To make sure the military community still has a space to join together, BFBS invites you to participate in an act of virtual remembrance by sharing your own ‘words of Remembrance’ with us.
This could be what Remembrance means to you or who or what you remember in those quiet moments of reflection – sent in as a poem, story or just a few of your own words that evoke a powerful emotion.
All contributions should be your own work and many will be published on the BFBS virtual remembrance wall on forces.net for all to read on 8th November, with many of your thoughts and emotions shared across BFBS’s radio stations.
BFBS will also turn one of these contributions into a beautiful typography video that will be shared across its social media channels on 8th November.
To help inspire you, here is a poignant typography video of the poem ‘And in Other News’, written by Warrant Officer Michael Saunders, Mercian Regiment Afghanistan (Op Herrick) 2009.
British Army Warrant Officer Michael Saunders said: “Writing words of remembrance is vital as they capture a moment in time. Years later I can read something that I wrote, and it instantly puts me back to when the words were first put to paper. Words of remembrance remind us all of the sacrifices that others made and go on making in our name. They are also a positive reminder that despite the darkest of times, we can and will endure – a message more important now than it ever was.”
Please send your poems and stories to remembrance@bfbs.com by 2nd November.
click here for more details of how we use your data.