One of the important recommendations in the LGBT Veterans Independent Review by Lord Etherton was that there should be a Government funded public memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum, to all LGBT people who have served and continue to serve in the military. The Government has agreed to fund a Memorial and has allocated a grant to Fighting With Pride for this purpose.
Critical elements of the project are that the Memorial should reflect the views of the LGBT serving and veteran community and that the memorial will provide an appropriate environment for remembrance, build community pride and raise broader awareness of the LGBT Armed Forces community and their experiences. The Memorial will also aim to improve the health and wellbeing of LGBT Veterans, serving personnel and their families, through active recognition and inclusion of the LGBT Armed Forces community.
The design of the memorial will be done in collaboration by a wide variety of organisations, including those which have the support and respect of veterans who served under and suffered from, the Ban (R17 and R18 of the review report). We are proud to be working with the following on the LGBT Armed Forces Community Memorial:
Royal British Legion, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, National Memorial Arboretum, Office for Veterans Affairs, Ministry of Defence, Stonewall, LGBT Foundation, Women’s Royal Army Corps Association, Help for Heroes, SaluteHer, Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force, SSAFA.
Honorary Art Advisors: Lucy Ash.
Fighting With Pride have now started to engage with the LGBT Armed Forces Community to gather ideas to help design an appropriate memorial. A Steering Group has been established, comprising of individuals from organisations and charities with deep knowledge of memorialisation, together with Veterans and serving personnel.
Regional meetings are planned in Portsmouth, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Blackpool in September to facilitate community involvement and there will also be virtual Townhalls to ensure maximum participation. The plan is to have options from the community consultation, refined by the Steering Group and passed to the Fighting With Pride Board of Trustees in November to enable a design decision to be taken. This will be followed by a transparent tender phase and site preparation, construction with a view to an unveiling ceremony in Summer/Autumn 2025.
Roly Woods has been appointed by the Fighting With Pride Board of Trustees to lead this important project as Memorial Officer, very ably assisted by his Deputy, Kevin Bazeley. You can find out more about the Memorial Team here.
Hello everyone!
It’s been another exciting month for the memorial project, and we’re delighted to share some great progress with you all.
First things first – we are on schedule and under budget! (two phrases we’ll never get tired of saying!). By the middle of August, all the preparatory groundwork was wrapped up, and the skilled team from Abraxas Academy got to work installing the beautiful York stone base plinth. Their craftsmanship really shines through, especially in the hand-carved details – including some very clever letter carvings that flow neatly across the stone joints.
The big milestone this month came right at the end on 29 August. The main bronze letter has now been installed, and the memorial team headed straight to the site to take a look. We’re thrilled to say it looks absolutely fantastic. Final tidying up of the site is in hand are we are well placed for the dedication ceremony in October.
Behind the scenes, our bespoke memorial website is also taking shape. We’ve now got a test site up and running, and the MoD-OVA and FWP Exec team have already been given a first look and the chance to share their thoughts. We can’t wait to share it more widely soon.
Looking ahead, preparations are building for the dedication ceremony in October. The date – Monday 27 October 2025 – is now public, and ballots for both veteran and serving personnel to attend are officially live. MoD-OVA is keeping an eye on uptake, and just a reminder: the veteran ballot closes at 0900 on 12 September. It promises to be a very special day, and we’re looking forward to seeing many of you there as we dedicate this important memorial together.
We’ve deliberately not shared images of the full memorial just yet to try and maintain a bit of mystique and impact for those attending on the day! If you do travel to see it in advance of the dedication by all means take pictures but please delay posting full images to help us maintain the surprise for others until after the dedication.
Roly Woods and Kevin Bazeley
Memorial Project Officers
Fighting With Pride
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