By Rev Alex Baxter, Rector of the Parish of Clayton with Keymer
War Memorial in Hassocks
This year for Remembrance Sunday, on 10th November 2019, things will be a little different.
As many of you may know, or may have heard, the Hassocks Branch of The Royal British Legion has closed which is a sad loss to our community. The premises are continuing to operate on a private basis. Unfortunately this means it is not possible to have an official Remembrance Sunday Parade as we have known it in the past with road closures and official marshalling as it is impossible to get insurance for the event.
As the Rector of the Parish of Clayton with Keymer and Chairman of Churches Together, I have met with representatives from the Royal British Legion and we are going to hold a service of Remembrance as usual at 2.30pm. This will be a short family friendly service of half an hour at St Cosmas and St Damian Church at Keymer with the traditional act of remembrance and laying of the wreaths afterwards at the War Memorial in the lower churchyard. The Clayton with Keymer Women’s Royal British Legion has kindly offered to provide and serve refreshments to all in attendance at Keymer Parish Hall in Church Mead afterwards. Those people who would like to can still march safely from the Legion Hall from 2pm to arrive at church for 2.30pm like before, there just will not be any road closures or official stewards.
We want to remain positive about the future of this important event for our community and hope all the usual organisations will want to continue to join us and take part in what is an essential part of our history, culture and heritage. It is intended that this event will happen annually at St Cosmas and St Damian Church and will continue to be led by myself and the other representatives of Churches Together Hassocks. We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible on Remembrance Sunday 10th November 2019.