Remembrance day put on hold for insurance payment
THE annual tribute to a town’s war dead may have to be cancelled because organisers have been asked to pay for insurance against terrorist attack.
For eighty years, the townsfolk of Troon in Ayrshire have paid tribute to fallen soldiers, sailors and airmen who lived locally and went off to fight for their country.
Servicemen from the area fought in some of the bitterest and bloody campaigns of both World Wars, including the disaster at Gallipoli and the ‘Bridge too Far’ at Arnhem.
But preparations for this year’s Remembrance Day commemorations have had to be put on hold while members of the Troon Royal British Legion branch desperately hunt for someone to pay for their public liability cover.
The local Legion branch decided to take over the organisation of the Remembrance Sunday parade several years ago.
Previously, it was run by South Ayrshire Council which as a local authority automatically had public liability cover for events like parades, fetes and other public gatherings.
But this year, the Legion received insurance forms inquiring about any potential terror threat to the parade and how many of its members required ‘protection’ from attack.
Tough new legislation means that the annual event’s organisers are now responsible for insuring against any claims from members of the public or to cover against any tragedy striking participants in the parade.
David Kelly, secretary of the British Legion’s Troon branch, said: “Nowadays there is certain public liability insurance you have to pay for events like this.
“We have been agonising over what to do but we just couldn’t take the risk.
“It’s not looking good for the town. We’ve had to tell everyone that it is all on hold.”
He added: “We’ve asked various people if they’d be able to take it over but so far we’ve had no response and time is running out.”
Robert Laing, branch chairman, added: “We took control of the organisation of the parade from the council seven years ago and have had no problems until now.
“But I have received dozens of forms to fill out asking all sorts of ridiculous questions. They even asked which members required protection.
“The first thing it asks is if there is anybody who needs to be protected from terrorists – they don’t seem to realise what this is all about.”
We can’t afford the insurance, it’s about £200 but we give most of our money to charity and we are all volunteers.
“The event is particularly poignant this year since the eleventh of the eleventh falls on a Sunday, the day that World War 1ended.”
He added: “The march goes from the school down to the war memorial and then to the church.
“There are usually about 200 people taking part but it always gathers a huge crowd.”
The First World War is particularly poignant in Troon as scores of men from Ayrshire were killed in the mass slaughter of the Somme, Ypres and particularly at Gallipoli, where 1st/5th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers took massive losses.
The war memorial — depicting Britannia standing on chains and holding a trident and palm – stands on Troon Seafront at the town’s famous South Beach.
The front of the memorial faces the West and the Firth of Clyde.
Engraved upon it are the names from the First world war and a screen wall with a bench attached, on the East side, has the second world war names attached on a plaque.
