Islington veterans, councillors and police officers paid tribute to British service people during Armed Forces Week 2020.
Kicking off on June 22, Armed Forces Week saw each day assigned a particular theme - global armed forces on Monday, innovation on Tuesday, reserves on Wednesday, veterans on Thursday and cadets on Friday.
It culminated with Armed Forces Day on Saturday, June 27.
Amid celebrations all around the UK for the 12th annual week-long event, representatives from Islington Veterans Association (IVA), the Met Police and Islington Council held a socially-distanced flag-raising ceremony outside the Town Hall on June 22.
READ MORE: ‘We should commemorate and be proud of what our forefathers fought for’This includes mayor Rakhia Ismail, Cllr Una O’Halloran and armed forces champion Cllr Gary Poole from Islington Council and IVA’s chairman Dennis Sharrocks, vice-chairman Martin Kirk and secretary Norman Willson.
Cllr Ismail tweeted: “Nice to see yday (sic) and celebrated with @islingtonvet1, Cllrs @CllrGaryPoole @UnaOHalloran @IslingtonBC staff to raise the flag #ArmedForcesWeek.
“Without them we will not be in front of Islington Town Hall. Massive thank you.”
She also thanked the “hard-working” staff at Islington Council for “making (the ceremony) possible in challenging times”.
It was coordinated by pageant master of the London borough of Islington Peter McCafferty and parade marshal David Dade, with the service conducted by IVA chaplain Reverend Nigel Williams.
Peter said: “Armed Forces Week is an opportunity to say thank you to the entire armed forces community: soldiers, sailors, airmen and women, regulars and reserves, and the wider forces community of cadets, veterans and their families particularly during this pandemic.”
In previous years, the flag-raising ceremony would be followed by a parade and picnic, but this has been rescheduled during the coronavirus pandemic.
It will be combined with the 75th anniversary parade for Victory over Japan (VJ) Day, which will take place on August 15.
Peter, who is also vice-chairman of Islington Youth Organisation in Uniform (YOU) and a founding member of the Islington Armed Forces Veterans Breakfast Club, urged everyone to support Armed Forces Week 2021 from June 21 to 27.
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