VE Day celebrations will be take place in Pontefract despite the town being in lockdown

A group of determined volunteers have organised a virtual VE day on Facebook where people can post pictures, memories and tributes to create a memory board to make the 75th commemorations.

The original celebrations were due to take place on the 8th of May, with decorations and events planned throughout the town.

These were organised by the Pontefract Decoration Squad, who formed in 2019 Tour de Yorkshire, when they took up the challenge set by Pontefract Civic Society to decorate the town to welcome the Tour De Yorkshire.

Phil Cook, Vice Chair, Pontefract Civic Society and Decoration Squad lead said “It is a great shame that our plans for both Easter and VE Day have to be put on hold, but the safety of the public and our team members is paramount.

“We will look at future suitable dates to reactivate our plans for VE Day - we see this as a postponement, not a cancellation.

“There is a big party to be had at some point of the year and we will be there at the front decorating the town.”

For the VE day volunteers in the group will be posting content online throughout the day, so the town can still celebrate as a community.

Town Crier, John Turner said: “The squad had planned the main celebrations VE Day around 8th May for the past eight months.

“It’s strange that as we were due to celebrate the end of conflict in Europe which had seen our island nation attacked, that we again needed to come together with wartime spirit and support each other.

“While I personally was looking forward to being able to carry out the nation’s ‘Cry for Peace’ for VE Day in our town centre, instead we now need to ask all the residents to join in with the nation’s ‘Toast for Peace’ at 3pm on May 8, to those who gave so much.”

To find out more about the virtual VE day schedule, click here