This year, as we mark the centenary of the Battle of the Somme, we are looking to install a battlefield memorial to the DLI Pals both out in the Somme region of France and here in Durham.

The Pals regiments were made up of ordinary men, from towns and villages across County Durham, who rallied together to go out to the front line and stand side-by-side with their military counterparts. Local people raised the money to send these brave men out into battle, but paid the ultimate price when hundreds of them were killed and whole communities were decimated as a result.

Other Pals regiments from around the country, who fought alongside our DLI Pals, have individual memorials out in the Somme but the Durham boys have nothing to mark their sacrifice and we are striving to correct that.