Nursery Court Day Services Girvan new war memorial

The memorial commemorates soldiers in both World War One (WW1) and World War Two (WW2) and was unveiled by a 99-year-old attender of Nursery Court, John Nelson, on Tuesday, November 7.

Nursery Court welcomed service users, family members, Councillors and the user group committee to the event which also saw input from local schools and nurseries.

The six Scots Royal Regiment of Scotland were also in attendance and brought along WW1 and WW2 memorabilia and future soldier fighting equipment for attendees to interact with.

The unveiling of the new five-foot galvanised silhouette statue of a WW1 and WW2 soldier made and donated by local firm Fairbairn and McQuiston was the highlight of a week of remembrance.

Councillor Alec Clark, Portfolio Holder for Tourism, Culture and Rural Affairs, said: "I would like to thank Fairbairn and McQuiston for fabricating and installing this very poignant memorial free of charge which allowed this event to take place.

"It is important that we do not lose the memories of these important events in our history."

"It is crucial that we remember our past and share these stories with the younger generation to allow us to learn and grow from our past experiences.

"It is fantastic that our local schools are able to be part of this event and have the opportunity to hear the stories of the lives of some of our day service users here today."

Staff at Nursery Court invited regular attenders of their day service to bring in their own family memorabilia from WW1 and WW2 to share as part of a display which will be hosted at the centre all week.

Each family was also provided a stone to decorate and place at the foot of the statue as part of the event in memory of friends, family and loved ones.

Stewart Marshall, Senior Manager of Girvan and Maybole Localities for South Ayrshire Health & Social Care Partnership, added: "I want to thank the team at Nursery Court for arranging this event as well as the amazing activities they have planned for the rest of the week.

"The event originated from conversations with users of the day service, the service users drove the idea of celebrating remembrance as part of a week of activities and the staff have really gone above and beyond to make this a success." 

Video diaries were captured of service users' memories of the war and will be made into a short film to look back on.

Service users took pride in creating poppy centre pieces, displayed on the tables and various other decorations for the event.

Service bus driver Jim Thomson said a few words for the fallen and played the Last Post on the bugle followed by a minute's silence.

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Davie Hunter, a service user family member recited the Poppy poem.

Nursery Court Day Services will host further activities throughout this week with programme of live WW1 and WW2 music throughout the week, arts and craft activities as well as themed treats such as fruit loafs making an appearance throughout the week.