A permanent memorial to more than 1,600 people from Burslem who lost their lives in war is finally to be built in the heart of the town. Work on it first began more than a century ago.
£45,000 from the Labour Government’s Pride in Place programme has been allocated towards designing and building the memorial. It is the result of 16 years of research by local volunteers: former service personnel, researchers, former Royal Doulton workers and families of the fallen.
Burslem is the only town within the city without a dedicated memorial naming its own ward dead. For years, those campaigning for it were left to do it on their own. Labour MP David Williams has worked alongside them, and alongside former pottery workers and community campaigners, to secure the funding to help get it built.
David Williams MP said:
“More than 1,600 men and women from Burslem gave their lives, and for over a hundred years, the town has had no single place that bears their names. That changes now.
“This belongs first to a group of volunteers who have spent 16 years tracing every name, every family and every story. When I was elected, I promised I’d back communities like theirs, and this Labour government’s Pride in Place funding means I can turn that promise into something real. I want to thank the volunteers and everyone who has backed the campaign.”
Mike Lightfoot, community campaigner and former Royal Doulton worker said:
“A group of local volunteers comprising of ex-service personnel, researchers, former Doulton employees and family of the fallen are bringing together the results of 16 years of research into Burslem’s 1600-plus fallen. That means the memorial that first started in 1919 can finally be completed, honouring their sacrifice and reuniting them with their descendants.”
Joan Walley, former Labour MP for Stoke-on-Trent North and Kidsgrove, said:
“Following on from our campaign to reinstate the missing Doulton Memorial off Nile Street, our group of volunteers have now rightly set their sights on getting a named memorial, commemorating those who were from Burslem and fought and died in the wars. Stoke-on-Trent City Council’s funding award is a great boost and massive step forward in progressing this ambition.”
Pride in Place is the Labour government’s programme to give communities the investment they need to restore pride in the places they live. A £1.5 million Pride in Place Impact Fund for Stoke-on-Trent was secured following lobbying by the city’s Labour MPs and the Labour-run city council.
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