We Still Remember: Join the doorstep silence in Scarborough and around the country on Remembrance Sunday

The Scarborough News is urging people to join a two-minute doorstep silence this Remembrance Sunday, to ensure we still remember in 2020 even if we cannot join together in Acts of Remembrance.

In this week's paper we have published a special Poppy Poster, backed by the Royal British Legion, which we encourage people to display in their windows, or to hold, as they stand on their doorsteps to observe a two-minute silence at 11am on Remembrance Sunday.

And on Armistice Day – Wednesday November 11 – there will be another national silence at 11am.

We urge everyone to show their support for Remembrance Sunday by buying a poppy if they are able, or by making a donation to the Royal British Legion.

Here’s how you can show support to the Poppy Appeal this year - and where to buy a poppy

This year more than ever, the Poppy Appeal needs our help as the new lockdown, and more people working from home, limit the opportunities for many people to buy a poppy.

Former Major in the Territorial Army and founder of Heroes Welcome UK, Scarborough’s John Senior, said: “I would encourage people to stand on their doorstep for that quiet two minutes or do it from the safety of inside their own homes.

“It’s incredibly important that we don’t just remember those that gave their lives for us before, but those heroes who are out there doing it now.

“Whether it is in the military or the NHS, there are people putting themselves in harm’s way to beat this terrible pandemic.

“If nothing else, please remember them.”

Mr Senior said that on Sunday, maroons would be fired at the harbour to signify the start and end of the 11am silence. In Scarborough, the annual Oliver's Mount service is due to go ahead, but numbers are strictly limited.

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Richard Flinton, Chairman of the North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum, said: “We know people will be disappointed that they cannot mark Remembrance Sunday on the scale we usually would, particularly as this is the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.

“We understand how important the act of Remembrance is to so many people across North Yorkshire, not least because of the contribution to the county of the large number of armed forces personnel who live and work here.

“Remembrance Sunday is a time of quiet, personal reflection and we can all still take that time to consider the sacrifice of those who have lost their lives in war.”

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Darren Hunter, Regimental Sergeant Major of the 4th Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment, has been organising wreath-laying at war memorials across the area including Scarborough and Whitby.

“Despite the restrictions and limitations we face in our private lives and across the Army, we are determined to come together to carry out the important Act of Remembrance across our home county,” he said.

“We want to remember all those who have fallen and in particular, the 18 soldiers from the Regiment who have died on active service, all those who were injured on duty, and the 36 soldiers who have died in service since we formed as The Yorkshire Regiment on June 6 2006.”