We’re the Friends of Falkirk War Memorial. We’ve been raising money to extend and refurbish the War Memorial in Dollar Park.

The memorial was unveiled in 1926 to remember the 1193 locals who died in World War I. Sadly it didn’t name the war dead, or the 463 others who died subsequently in World War II. We wanted to properly Remember Falkirk’s Fallen.

Following a fundraising campaign, and support from many people and organisations, we extended and refurbished the memorial site. New pillars and plaques – finally naming the local war dead – were unveiled at a ceremony on Sunday, November 3, 2019.

What

WHAT WE’VE BEEN DOING

The Friends set out to have all the local war dead named at the site. The charity wanted to sensitively extend the original memorial site and add further structures with plaques. See a model of our plans (opens in new tab).

Our work also aimed to make the site more accessible from Dollar Park itself (previously access is only via the main pavement outside) and also improve access for people with mobility issues. We needed to raise around £125,000 to carry out the work.

We’ve been working with local firms to deliver the project (read our story).

See our 2018 campaign video.

 

When

We set ourselves ambitious plans to refurbish and extend the War Memorial in time for the Remembrance Sunday in November 2019.

With with the help of the public – and the support of external funders – we made that a reality.

Some of Falkirk's heroes that we want to honour.
Some of Falkirk’s heroes we wanted to honour.

How

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Remember to add your name and address and a contact number. Thank you.

Please note we may share your email/letters with funders to show strong community support for our campaign. Please indicate in your letter that you’re happy for us to do this. (And, if you’d rather we didn’t pass on your letters or emails, let us know.)

Who

WHO’S INVOLVED

The idea of revamping the war memorial came from former Falkirk Provost Pat Reid.

He formed a committee with local historian Ian Scott, former architect Morris Robb, businessman Douglas Cameron, Tom McMorrow of the RAF Air Cadets, Cllrs Gary Bouse, John Patrick and Provost Billy Buchanan and Major Jim Bain to help develop the project.

Support also came from Falkirk Council – which owns the park – from Friends of Dollar Park and the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders’ Association, as well as many individuals, including Gillian Gardner from Falkirk Trinity Church and Clare Mennim.

The Friends group also gained strong support of the local media, including The Falkirk Herald newspaper.

WORKING WITH LOCAL FIRMS

The Friends – a registered charity – commissioned an almost entirely local team to carry out the works on the memorial.

The main contractor has been C.A.M.S. Construction Scotland, based at Redding Industrial Estate.

Also involved in the project were:

  • Quality Masonry Services of Dalderse Avenue, Falkirk;
  • Falkirk Stonemasons of Bankside Industrial Estate, Falkirk;
  • TBB Architecture, based in the town’s Cockburn Street;
  • Sterling Precast, based in Stirling; and
  • The Helix Building Consultancy Ltd – quantity surveyors – based in Lenzie.

The project has also been given extensive support by the Eden Consultancy Group in Falkirk – designing the name plaques for the site itself, as well as materials to help promote the campaign.