Flanders Memorial – National Assembly welcomes charity cyclists on fundraising journey

9 September 2013

Cyclists raising funds for The Welsh Memorial in Flanders Campaign have stopped off at the National Assembly on Monday, 9 September.

They were welcomed on the steps of the Senedd by Deputy Presiding Officer, David Melding AM.

The eight cyclists from the North Wales Rugby Choir, the official choir of the campaign, are cycling 670 miles from Bangor to Flanders.

They are riding in memory of Welsh-language war poet Hedd Wyn, who died at Langmark in Flanders, during the Battle of Passchendaele in 1917.

The Presiding Officer, Rosemary Butler AM, is a patron of The Welsh Memorial in Flanders Campaign.

“It gives me great pleasure to welcome members of the North Wales Rugby Choir to the Senedd today,” said the Deputy Presiding Officer.

“The Welsh Memorial in Flanders Campaign will recognise the ultimate sacrifice made by young men, like Hedd Wyn, during the Great War at battles such as Passchendaele.

“The Presiding Officer is patron of the campaign and we welcome these cyclists to the steps of the Senedd, to offer our support on their long journey which will, I hope, play a part in bringing that memorial in Flanders a step closer.”

The cyclists’ journey has already taken them from Bangor, through Trawsfynydd down to Llanelli, before arriving in Cardiff.

They will now head on to Bath, London and Dover before travelling through Dunkirk to Langemark.

Alwyn Bevan, who is a committee member of both the campaign and choir, said: “It is almost a hundred years since the First World War began and we haven’t got a memorial to mark the sacrifice of Welsh soldiers in Flanders.

“The choir has organised this fundraising ride because we want to see the sacrifice, made by many young Welsh men, commemorated at Langemark.

“I would like to thank the Presiding Officer, and National Assembly, for the continued support for the campaign.”