Police Mutual stood with the rest of the UK to mark a very different Remembrance Day and show our thanks to those who risked, and continue to risk, their lives for us.

The annual Remembrance Sunday services, parades and events were cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, the true spirit of Remembrance lies in taking a moment to recognise those who have given their lives protecting this country. So, the Royal British Legion encouraged people to respect the traditional 2-minute silence standing on their doorstep instead, while the service was broadcast nationwide.

Remembrance unites us across faiths, cultures and backgrounds to remember the service and sacrifice of the Armed Forces community from Britain and the Commonwealth. In 2020, we pay tribute to all the men and women who served and sacrificed their lives and to those continuing to fight today, to defend our nation. We join together in the hope for a brighter, peaceful future.

Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, who fought in WW1, was moved to write his now famous poem after seeing poppies growing in the battle-scarred fields, shortly after the death of his friend, in Ypres 1915. The red poppy symbolises both Remembrance and also hope for a peaceful future – which we continue to hold.  

In Flanders' Fields - John McCrae:

In Flanders' fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place: and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders' fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe;
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high,
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow