Kirkcaldy community centre honours Armed Forces personnel who gave their lives with unveiling of memorial bench

The unveiling at Linton Lane Centre in Templehall was attended by locals, and groups from the centre as well as Mick Cairns, a Royal Marine veteran who founded the mental health charity, A Veteran’s Best Friend that is also based at the centre.

The bench, which features poppies from Flanders fields, was funded by Morrisons, and made by K&S Fabrication in Burntisland, with the base installed by Kirkcaldy groundworks company, William Matthew and Son Contractors, and Matthew Groundworks.

Mandy Henderson, centre manager, said: “We thought it would be a lovely idea to install a memorial bench to honour those who have sacrificed their lives for their country.

"As a lot of people who would have attended the centre when it was the Boy’s Club on Rose Street would have fought in the war, and as we are now home to A Veteran’s Best Friend, it is only right that we honour those who gave everything for us today.”

Mandy adds that even though the sun was out for the unveiling, the mood was sombre as people lay wreaths and observed the two minute silence to mark Remembrance Day.

"It was a lovely day although the mood was sombre, and such a nice way to honour the people who have made the ultimate sacrifice for us today – a lot of our veterans from then and now have come home suffering unimaginable trauma.

"The memorial bench will hopefully give people a place to go where they can remember the heroes who fought for us.”

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