Standing together, apart, for this year’s Remembrance Sunday

Then, head bowed, we would stand in silence for two minutes to remember the sacrifice of those who have served their country.

However, as with so many other aspects of our lives this year, the coronavirus pandemic has affected the traditional acts of remembrance. And particularly now as England is in a four-week lockdown, there will be no public gatherings or church services.

In their absence, The News is calling on people to simply stand on their doorstep for two minutes at 11am to mark Remembrance Sunday. Our Stand Out For Heroes campaign aims to make sure that this year’s remembrance does not pass unnoticed.

There will also be a number of online remembrance services for those who want to tune in – but people are being urged not to attend churches and memorials as they would have in previous years.

Residents can watch the city's online service of remembrance on the Portsmouth City Council website here, and Facebook page from 9am on Sunday here.

The virtual service will feature addresses and readings from the Anglican Bishop of Portsmouth, the Rt Rev Christopher Foster, and the Catholic Bishop of Portsmouth, the Rt Rev Philip Egan, the Lord Mayor as well as representatives of Portsmouth's Catholic, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh communities. Music will be provided by the Portsmouth Cathedral Choir and musicians from the Band of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines.

The new regulations mean a church service with a congregation and numerous speakers is no longer permitted, so each address and reading has been pre-recorded.

The Rt Rev Foster says: ‘Although Remembrance Sunday might be different this year, one thing hasn’t changed – that’s the importance of remembering and thanking God for those previous generations who sacrificed so much in order to preserve our freedom.

‘In a city like Portsmouth, there are many reminders of the heroism of those who have served and are now serving in the Armed Forces.

‘We can’t gather physically together in churches or at war memorials this year. But if we all stand on our doorsteps and observe the two minutes’ silence at 11am this Sunday, we will still be emotionally and spiritually united in Remembrance.

‘My prayer is that the small sacrifices we are currently making in order to combat this virus will bring into sharper focus the much greater sacrifices that were made by previous generations.

‘We will remember them.’

Cllr Gerald Vernon-Jackson, leader of the city council, echoing other civic leaders, adds: ‘It is hugely important that even in these challenging times we commemorate the sacrifice of so many.

‘With infections increasing and new national restrictions in place, marking Remembrance Sunday from home this year, rather than gathering together, is the right thing to do to protect each other and particularly those who are most vulnerable to coronavirus.’

The Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal is a crucial part of remembrance and this year has been particularly tough for its fundraisers.

Claire Smith, RBL community fundraiser for south Hampshire and Isle of Wight only joined the organisation in February. With one great-grandfather in the Arctic Convoys and another taken prisoner at D-Day, it is a cause close to her heart.

She says: ‘I had a month of getting to know some of the organisers and volunteers, and then we went into lockdown, so it's been a strange year. I was looking forward to being out in the community and then that all stopped.’

With volunteer numbers down due to lockdown restriction and shielding, they’ve had to change the way they work.

‘We've had to try and think of creative ways to get the poppies to the people, for example, we've got the downloadable poppy that people can get off the website and place in their window.

‘The legion's priority has been to protect our volunteers and staff, and that has always been at the forefront of everything we've done, so we've worked really hard to put poppies in key places.

‘We've got a number of corporate partners – supermarkets who have had poppies direct, they've been selling for us, like Sainsbury's, Morrison's, and then we've had poppy appeal organisers in Asda and Tescos as well.

‘It's been different and our team of volunteers has been dramatically reduced, but I'm really proud of the guys in Portsmouth – it's been amazing, what they've achieved.

‘We've had to look at how we can get contactless payment, so we've had those machines on stands, and we developed QR codes and text to donate, all that sort of thing.

‘We have to protect our volunteers, but equally want the public to be able to take part in Remembrance and have their poppy, because we know it's so important to the nation

‘The Poppy Appeal started after a national crisis and we're in a national crisis now, so we really hope that the poppy will bring the nation back together as well.’

And Claire also backs the Stand Out campaign: ‘It's so important to recognise that we can't forget the sacrifices that our armed forces have made, and what they've done for the country and what they still continue to do now.

‘Giving people the option to still be part of remembrance by just standing on their doorstep is amazing.’

Other online services across our region include:

Portsmouth Cathedral will be live-streaming its Remembrance Service from 10.55am on its Facebook page here. Two minutes silence will be kept at 11am following which the Dean of Portsmouth, the Very Revd Dr Anthony Cane, will lead an act of remembrance. The Bishop of Portsmouth, the Rt Revd Christopher Foster, will reflect on the importance of remembrance in his sermon. Music will be provided by Portsmouth Cathedral Choir.

Fareham’s Holy Trinity Church will be live-streaming from its Facebook page on Sunday here. There will be no parade this year.

At 10.55am on Sunday, a link to a specially-made video with an introduction from the Mayor of Gosport, Cllr Zoe Huggins will be posted on the Gosport Borough Council Facebook page here and Twitter account here.

The mayor of Havant’s chaplain, Canon Tom Kennar will lead the Havant service which will be on St Faith’s Church website, stfaith.com or its Facebook page here from 10.50am.

There are pictures of poppies available to download and print from the RBL website: britishlegion.org.uk.

Community spirit helps create a vision in red

Residents of Denmead have created a stunning display of 1,547 knitted poppies to decorate the entrance of All Saints Church.

The suggestion first came up in a church staff meeting at the start of the year, and was put out in the parish newsletter in February.Rev Emma Racklyeft says: ‘We were very keen it wasn't just a church thing, and it was something for the wider community to engage with. They started pouring in quickly, and then of course, it coincided with lockdown – and then it really took off. I think people were able to sit at home and feel like they were still engaged with the community.‘We have quite a good community spirit here in Denmead anyway, and I think people just got the vision.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​’The church is streaming an Act of Remembrance from 10.45am on Sunday on its Facebook page here.