Chair of the board of trustees, Sir Hugh Orde, speaking at the ground breaking ceremony at the National Memorial Arboretum on the 12th June 2020.
Gareth Morgan, Chief Constable of Staffordshire Police, speaking at the ground breaking ceremony.
Philippa Rawlinson, Managing Director of the National Memorial Arboretum, speaking at the ground breaking.
The start of the build work was marked with a ground-breaking event completed by the fathers of PCs Nicola Hughes and Fiona Bone, two Greater Manchester Police Officers, killed on duty in 2012.
Chair of Trustees, Sir Hugh Orde said: “How fitting that the ground-breaking of this project of major national significance was carried out by Paul Bone and Bryn Hughes, whose daughters were shot and killed whilst responding to a routine 999 call, eight years ago.
“When we set out on this ambitious project in 2015 we had no idea how challenging it would be. Along the way we have overcome many hurdles and setbacks. But after five years of determination, amazing support and dedicated fundraising we have finally reached the position where construction of the new UK Police Memorial can start.
“We have only been able to reach this point thanks to the generosity of individual benefactors, businesses, grant makers, government, police forces, staff associations and the wider public. I and my fellow Trustees are so grateful for all the support and tremendous fundraising that has taken place.”
The National Memorial Arboretum is the place where all our services are remembered throughout the year. A place where people come for quiet acts of contemplation and reflection and a place where large scale acts of remembrance take place. Yet there is no fitting tribute at the Arboretum that honours the scale of loss from our Police service.
The £4.5million project will see the creation of a fitting tribute to commemorate those police officers and staff killed on duty across the UK since the formation of the Bow Street Runners in 1749.
Construction work will take place during 2020 and be completed by the end of the year. The Memorial will be dedicated and open to the public from the Spring of 2021.
