Townships to receive £20,000 for World War One centenary

All four townships in the borough could receive up to £20,000 to help honour those who fought in World War One.

Rochdale Council has set aside £80,000 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the war which began in 1914.

A quarter of that money will be spent in Heywood to allow the town to update and enhance existing memorials. The rest of the money will then be spent within Rochdale, Middleton and the Pennines.

It is understood that some of the money allocated to Heywood will be used to repair damage that was made to the Lance Corporal Stephen Shaw MC Way street sign last month.

The money comes as each of the townships plan to commemorate thousands of men who fought and died in the First World War.

The £20,000 could then be boosted further if the townships can apply to other funding group such as English Heritage to pay for more work.

Councillor Alan McCarthy, Lead Member for the Armed Forces, said: “As part of our plans to commemorate World War One and the sacrifices made by the many men from the borough who fought valiantly for their country, a proposal is being discussed at tonight’s (Thursday 27 Ferbaury) Budget Fixing Meeting to allocate £20K capital paid over a four year period to each of the four townships.

"Each township will decide how to spend its own allocation of money.”

World War One began in August 1914 and ended in November 1918.