SWANSEA: Every Remembrance date this year, from the poppy appeal launch to the Armistice Day silence

Swansea’s poppy appeal launches on Friday 16 October, the start of a month of Remembrance events running right up to the Two Minute Silence on Armistice Day.

The Royal British Legion has chosen Swansea Market for the launch, at 10.30am. It’s the second year in a row the appeal has started there.

Poppies then go on sale at council venues around the city, including Y Storfa, some libraries and the Guildhall, Swansea Council says.

Remembrance Sunday is 8 November: the Cenotaph at 10.30am, the parade at 1.30pm

The main commemoration service at the Cenotaph starts at 10.30am on Remembrance Sunday.

In the afternoon, the Remembrance Parade leaves the Builder’s Arms on Lower Oxford Street at 1.30pm and heads for Swansea Minster, where the Service of Remembrance begins at 2.30pm.

The council says it is organising and paying for the parade. The Lord Lieutenant will be at the Cenotaph that morning, while the council leader and other councillors attend services in their own communities.

Before then: a Cross of Peace, a Garden of Remembrance and the Brangwyn Hall festival

The Royal British Legion holds its Cross of Peace ceremony at Dan Y Graig Cemetery on Friday 23 October at 10.30am.

Its Garden of Remembrance opens on the green outside Morgan’s Hotel on Sunday 1 November at 10.45am. Last year’s garden was blessed by the Vicar of Swansea Minster, Canon Justin Davies.

The night before Remembrance Sunday, the Legion’s Festival of Remembrance comes to the Brangwyn Hall on Saturday 7 November at 6pm. It’s free.

Armistice Day falls on Wednesday 11 November

On Armistice Day the council’s Swansea Remembers event is in Paxton Street in the city centre at 10.30am.

At 10.45am the Merchant Navy Association holds its annual service at Technium Square, and the Armistice Day commemorations begin at the Cenotaph ahead of the National Two Minute Silence at 11am. Councillors will be at the Cenotaph that day, the council says.

There’s also a Poppies to Paddington event at Swansea railway station, with the time still to be confirmed, and the Guildhall will be lit red for the day.

The council says it now looks after community memorials veterans used to run

Council leader Rob Stewart said the generation who served was “gradually passing on”, and that the council had now taken over the management of community memorials from veterans “to ensure they remain a fitting tribute to all who have served.”

“So many local people have made the ultimate sacrifice over the years, giving their lives so that we can enjoy the freedom that many of us sometimes take for granted,” he said.

The council says it is also paying for the road closures needed for the parades and services veterans, their families and supporters are staging in communities across Swansea.

“We’re continuing to do that by funding community road closures and other costs so parades and remembrance events can go ahead in our city’s communities without worry,” said Cllr Elliott King, cabinet member for culture, equalities and human rights.

The council’s Armed Forces Champion, Cllr Wendy Lewis, said: “Communities in Swansea have a proud heritage of service in the armed forces. Our support for past and current members of the armed forces is unstinting and year-round.”

Phillip Flower, chairman of the Royal British Legion in Swansea, said Remembrance events had always been “a very personal experience for veterans, our friends, families and supporters.”

“The poppy has been the emblem and a rallying-point for Royal British Legion fundraising for well over a century,” he said. “It’s very special in so many ways because it is a reminder of the poppies of Flanders, where so many gave their lives during World War I.”