LEDBURY funeral directors, the Dawe Brothers, joined forces with Ledbury Primary youngsters in a project to remember all those servicemen and women who marched away to war, never to return.

Dawe Brothers held an commemorative event earlier this month at their Bye Street branch and, with help from head teacher Julie Rees, encouraged the children to take part in a special competition to decorate the dozens of poppies which were on display at the branch.

Funeral arranger, Justin Hydes said: "We welcomed the mayor, Cllr Debbie Baker to judge the competition, and she spent a long time looking at them all, and choosing the winning designs.

Cllr Baker said: “I thought it was a wonderful idea to heighten the children’s understanding of Remembrance and the background to the Poppy in this way”.

Mr Hydes added: “It was also wonderful to see the response by the young people to our competition; it made choosing the winners a difficult job for the mayor."

The following day, Mr Hydes went to Ledbury Primary school to present the prizes to the winners.

First prize went to Rory Barry and second prize went to Izzy Drew.

An apple tree was also donated to the school "for their garden and to show appreciation for taking part".

Mr Hydes said “We enjoy working with the community and wanted to draw attention at this time of year in our own small way, to the work of the Royal British Legion, and their on-going support for servicemen and women and their families”.