LJMU marks Remembrance 2025

Students and staff have marked Remembrance 2025 by supporting the Royal British Legion's (RBL) Poppy Appeal and community engagement projects centred on the 80^th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, as well as taking part in acts of remembrance.

Supporting the Poppy Appeal

Members of the LJMU community supported the fundraising efforts of the RBL for their annual Poppy Appeal with students and staff volunteering to support activity across the Liverpool city region in the weeks leading up to Remembrance Sunday. A highlight included working with other organisations to collect donations outside the new Everton FC Hill Dickinson Stadium ahead of the recent England vs Australia rugby league game.

The RBL is a Corporate Fellow of LJMU and in the past the university has worked with them to conduct research to benefit veterans and their families and, through its on-going commitment to supporting the Armed Forces community, is looking at ways to continue working in partnership with the charity for the benefit of those communities.

80^th anniversary of the end of the Second World War

This year, students have supported two community-based projects led by the RBL in the lead up to Remembrance.

Students studying a range of creative, social science and business subjects worked with artist Mahtab Hussain to bring to life the stories behind his new sculpture for the 'Forgotten Army' exhibition, which honours the vital part played by the British Indian Army in WWII.

Students created an AR experience and a website to host digital media, interviews and research undertaken about the contributions made by Commonwealth soldiers during the war campaign. They also created an original performance showcased at a launch event in September as the exhibition was unveiled at the Central Library in Liverpool.

The 'Forgotten Army' exhibition will now go on a national tour, moving onto locations including the RBL's National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, Oldham Art Gallery and Leicester Museum and Galleries.

Students from the School of Art and Creative Industries also filmed, directed and edited a film highlighting the stories of soldiers passing through Bramley Moore Dock during the war years.

The film was screened ahead of Everton's Premier League game against Fulham during Remembrance weekend at the club's new home, Hill Dickinson Stadium, which now stands on the dock.

Remembrance Sunday

Students from the North West University Officer Training Regiment, as well as staff and student reservists and veterans, joined Liverpool's annual service of Remembrance on Sunday 9 November, while LJMU students from the Liverpool University Air Squadron took part in the Remembrance Sunday parade in Southport.

A moment of silence

On Tuesday 11 November, Armistice Day, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Mark Power, and LJMU's Armed Forces Champion, Dr Gus Ryrie, led a two-minute silence on campus with members of staff and students.

After the service of Remembrance on campus, members of the LJMU Armed Forces Steering Group laid a wreath at the Cenotaph outside St George's Hall on behalf of the university.

LJMU's support for the Armed Forces community

LJMU signed the Armed Forces Covenant in 2021. Since then, it has appointed its first Armed Forces Champion and formed a cross-university Armed Forces Steering Group.

From research to Arts projects, to strengthening educational paths for ex-forces personnel, to widening participation in higher education through engagement with youth cadet groups. The university undertakes a variety of collaboration in this field to support the Armed Forces community.

Additionally, in August 2024, LJMU was awarded gold status under the Ministry of Defence Employer Recognition Scheme in acknowledgement of the work being undertaken in support of the Armed Forces Covenant.

Find out more about LJMU's pledge to the Armed Forces community