Wrexham Remembrance Service affected by Council cuts
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The following is a letter I am sent to Wrexham Council following the upsetting occurance at the Remembrance Service today:-
Dear Councillors
I attended the Remembrance Service in Wrexham this morning with my grandchildren who were in the Scout and Guide contingent age 12 and 14.
This is an extremely solemn occasion which people want to take part in as everyone will have relatives that have been involved in the two great wars and subsequent conflicts.I was therefore totally disgusted that this year as part of your Council cost cutting (this was the message that came from one of your own staff) you decided to cut the number of order of service leaflets for the public and those in the parade and print for your own civic groupings and ‘dignitaries’ and only a few for the public. There were only about 10 copies available for about 100 children and young people and non at all for the contingent of armed forces, army and RAF personnel and cadets. It also looked like the people laying wreaths also only had a couple between them.
The RAF Cadet Band was good it was however disappointing that a town the size of Wrexham could not find a bugler from amongst the very many talented musicians in the area to play the Last Post and Reveille- please don’t tell me this was cost-cutting as well.
There are only two or three Civic functions a year – Civic Sunday, Remembrance Sunday and Armistice Day. There was no parade for Civic Sunday due to cost cutting the expense of a band to lead and now we have the fiasco today.
For the sake of all those that have fallen and the youngsters of today wanting to keep memories of the past alive the Council should not be penny pinching on such an important occasion.
I hope you are able to sort your Council out for next year and ensure that ALL members of the public are given the chance to fully engage in the commemoration of the fallen and looking for hope in the future.
A very disgruntled grand parent
Jane JordonJane I have replied to your earlier email raising this matter with myself.I have received assurances off the Leader of the Council that he will take this up with the relevant officers in the morning and report back to you asap. Having attended the service this morning I can only apologise for what has been an avoidable distraction to a special day in the Town’s calendar.
I hope this of comfort to you.
Cllr Phil Wynn
“The RAF Cadet Band was good it was however disappointing that a town the size of Wrexham could not find a bugler from amongst the very many talented musicians in the area to play the Last Post and Reveille- please don’t tell me this was cost-cutting as well.”
If only Wrexham Council understood the power of good communications. it doesn’t even sound like Councillors were aware there was to be a recording played of the bugler. Had the Council made a public appeal I also feel there would have been someone within the local community who would have been proud to play the bugle at the Remembreance Day Service. What a pity those responsible never asked!
I went to the Cenotaph and couldn’t hear anything, it’s been the same for the last couple of years. Can’t they turn the sound up. Talking to someone who went to the Church service and he said that they played a recording of the bugler.
Council response — make your own view
Dear Mrs Jordon,
Thank you for your recent email to the Leader of the Council stating your observations following last Sunday’s Remembrance Day service, which has been forwarded to me for response.
As I am sure you will appreciate we start planning these events early and on this occasion we commenced our preparations in November 2014. Despite this early planning we were unable to secure a bugler to attend the service on this particular date due to a lack of availability of the individual we usually use. To overcome this issue and having assessed what others do, it was decided that a recording played through an external PA system would be appropriate on this occasion. I can assure you the decision was purely down to bugler availability and was not a cost-savings exercise as has been reported. We are pleased to confirm that we have already been able to secure the buglers who played at the Armistice Day service on Queen’s Square yesterday for next year’s Remembrance Sunday service.
We are delighted that the service at the cenotaph in Bodhyfryd has grown in popularity in recent years, particularly amongst younger people. We decided this year to offer the complete Order of Service in digital format on our website and via social media to enable people to download and/or print off or follow the service from their Smart devices. Again this was not exclusively a cost-cutting exercise but an attempt to ensure that people can see the Order of Service in a variety of formats best suited to their needs, including printed copies. It is not denied however, that there is a cost attributable to printing which in the present climate of making savings, cannot be ignored.
I am sure you will appreciate it is difficult to second guess how many people will attend from one year to the next and therefore it is sensible to issue the hard copies on a first-come first-served basis and ask people to share where possible or indeed, if they wish to have a personal copy, availing themselves of the online provision. Having said this, whilst we have produced fewer paper copies of the Order of Service than in previous years we still had many left over, unused after the event
Finally, I am proud to report that the general feedback we received about Sunday’s Cenotaph Service was very positive reflecting our commitment to delivering a dignified and respectful service.
Trevor Coxon
Head of Corporate and Customer Services / Pennaeth Gwasanaethau Cwsmeriaid a Chorfforaethol( 01978 292202
* Wrexham County Borough Council, Guildhall, Wrexham LL11 1AY
* Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Wrecsam, Neuadd y Dref, Wrecsam LL11 1AY” Having said this, whilst we have produced fewer paper copies of the Order of Service than in previous years we still had many left over, unused after the event”
Who was responsible for giving out the leaflets ? Maybe they covered the dignitaries but then stopped short of the children and public ! It really is a waste of money printing leaflets and not distributing them all. In previous years it was obvious who was giving out the Order of Service , but this year they didn’t make themselves known , if there was such a person. Normally this event is well managed by the Council hopefully these issues will be ironed out for next year.
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