A Carlisle man has been backed by businesses to create a World War One roadside display to serve as a lasting tribute to veterans and the service they gave their country.
Geoff Brown, of Harker, will be joined by around 30 people who have helped him to bring a unique silhouetted armed forces arrangement to life on Monday at 11am.
A bugler is also due to sound The Last Post as it is officially unveiled on his land beside the A7, close to Junction 44 of the M6.
The black painted metalwork display will depict soldiers, a horse, a nurse, First World War aeroplanes, a tank and scores of poppies, and will be solar powered for illumination during the darkness.
A number of firms have donated staff time and materials to assist Geoff, a well-known fundraiser whose good deeds began at the age of 13.
Over more than four decades he has provided vital financial help and support to 560 families across Cumbria and south west Scotland whose loved ones have faced life-threatening illnesses and disabilities, but been assisted to make memories and achieve their potential.
The seeds for his World War One creation were sown several months ago as he delivered Christmas gifts and good cheer to pensioners in freezing temperatures.
“To see elderly people sitting there with two lots of clothes on, trying to keep warm in their own homes was quite humbling,” he said. “It resonated when I went past the Cumbria Park Hotel (then housing asylum seekers and refugees).
I thought ‘we’re not looking after the people who made our own country great’. And we’re not. If you go to America and if you’re in the armed forces you’re on a pedestal. Wherever you go, people will open the door for you.”
“I just feel in this country we don’t. We’re not remembering the people who gave everything for us to be where we are.”
In his head he sketched the mental notes for a Remembrance display and then approached a number of firms to tap into their specialist skills.
They included Carlisle-based Bendalls Engineering. Bendalls, in partnership with Lakes College, offer opportunities to apprentices who have made the tank for Geoff’s display and also, through that work, been educated about those who served their country more than a century ago.
“All I am is the mouthpiece who puts it together. I just ask people I know personally to help and everybody involved with this has been 100 per cent, all in,” he said.
“The idea is that this display will sit there as a prominent reminder, for the rest of my life and beyond. When everybody goes past on that road, or if they’re sitting in traffic, they can see it and remember. That’s exactly what I want. We only really remember veterans on November 11 but this will be there every single day.
“It’s going to commemorate all the people who made our country great and educate people to think that we should be remembering them all the time.”
He is also hoping a link can be forged with the Royal British Legion to raise funds for the charity from the display.
Geoff, who began his working life as a farm labourer, has been a DJ, waiter, has sold fire wood and cleaned chimneys before founding a drainage company which he sold in 2017. His voluntary work is carried out through the Geoff Brown Charitable Trust.
All armed forces veterans are very welcome to attend Monday’s event at 11am. For more information contact Geoff on 07860873050.
