Tribute to Armed Forces at Heywood Memorial Gardens

Armed Forces Flag raised in Heywood Memorial Gardens

The Mayor, Ian Duckworth and the chairman of Heywood Veterans Chris Helis and Councillor Peter Rush joined other veterans at Heywood Memorial Gardens to raise the Armed Forces flag on Thursday (22 June 2017) to pay tribute to past heroes, past sacrifices and past historic events.

The Mayor of Rochdale, Ian Duckworth said: "Until recently we have not been good at acknowledging publicly, our gratitude and our appreciation of the sacrifices of our present day heroes.

"We owe an incredible debt to the brave men and women of our armed forces who are ultimate protectors of our peace.

"They all wear different uniforms and perform different missions but when we think of those serving in our armed services, regardless of what branch and what duty they perform, what we think about is just one word... sacrifice.

"Armed Forces Day is a celebration of our veterans’ community too, whatever their age."