LEST WE FORGET: a team of JCB employees has unveiled a poignant Remembrance Day memorial which they hope will help raise funds for two charities.

The team of seven engineers and manufacturing specialists at JCB Earthmovers in Cheadle have designed and made the 5ft tall steel silhouette of a soldier standing before the grave of a fallen colleague, all mounted on a plinth bearing a poppy and the words ‘lest we forget’.

Now, they plan to make limited edition miniature versions of the memorial to sell to JCB colleagues – with funds raised being split between the Royal British Legion and the NSPCC.

Driving force behind the project, Manufacturing Engineer, Henry Poole, 23, said:

“My girlfriend’s brother is a serving soldier and her dad was in the Armed Forces so after talking to them I thought it would be great to do something at work that really shows our appreciation in the run up to Remembrance Day - especially as it’s 80 years since the end of World War II.”

Henry, of Cheadle, who joined JCB as an apprentice straight from school, said: “I knew we had the people and tools to make something special so I talked to my manager Craig Caddy and he was keen to support it."

“It’s been a big team effort: I designed the silhouette, Craig organised the making and the painting, Fabrication Planners Richard Curran and Edward Capewell managed the laser cutting, Christopher Frost and Steven Forster did the welding and assembly and Kieran Edgerton painted it. I’m grateful to JCB for supporting the idea and I feel really proud to see our work standing in reception. It also feels great to be able to raise funds for two deserving charities as well.”

The memorial will be displayed in JCB Earthmovers’ Cheadle reception area until Remembrance weekend, when it is hoped to move it to the town’s cenotaph as part of the Royal British Legion Remembrance Day service.

Photo: Henry Poole, Edward Capewell, Craig Caddy, Richard Curran and Emily Thompson are pictured from left to right with the silhouette.