Two handcrafted military silhouettes have been presented to a Yeovil care home ahead of Remembrance Day, bringing together local volunteers and residents with personal connections to the Armed Forces.
The male and female figures were created at Yeovil Men’s Shed and Community Workshop, with help from Steve Aldred, a former Chief Petty Officer who served with 845 Squadron for 48 years.
The silhouettes were donated to Grovelands residential and dementia care home, where several residents have military backgrounds or family connections to wartime service.
The gift also reflects an existing relationship between the home and the Men’s Shed, which residents attend for social activities, woodworking and community projects.
Among those reflecting on Remembrance Day is resident David, born in South Wales in 1931, who remembers how the war changed his childhood as family and friends left to serve. He believes it remains important to remember ‘all the chaps that have been lost’.
Fellow resident Hazel grew up near Portland Naval Base and remembers fighter planes overhead and being woken by air raid sirens. She recalls pulling on cold shoes in the middle of the night and running to the family’s Anderson shelter, built in their vegetable garden.
Her family’s military connections span generations. Her grandfather served in the Boer War and later became an air raid warden, while three brothers served in the Air Force. Her uncle was taken prisoner by Japanese forces following the fall of Singapore.
Karen Cheshire, Registered Manager at Grovelands, said: ‘Remembrance Day is especially important to us at Grovelands, as it provides an opportunity for our residents to reflect upon their own experiences of military service, and remember those who no longer stand beside them.
‘The generous gift of the two military silhouettes from Yeovil Men’s Shed will provide a poignant focus for us all, as we mark Remembrance Day this year.’
Steve Aldred added: ‘Remembrance Sunday helps me remember those colleagues and friends who I served with who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country and those like me who served alongside them.’
The silhouettes will form part of the home’s Remembrance commemorations, when residents, staff and families gather to remember those who served and died in conflict.
To find out more about life at Grovelands, or to book a guided tour or free taster day, please call 01935 678705 or visit www.somersetcare.co.uk/grovelands.
