A NEW war memorial is set to be unveiled in Orford next week.

The Ryfields Veterans Group will open their memorial garden at Ryfields Retirement Village on Arena Gardens on Thursday, June 6 – the 75th anniversary of D-Day.

Residents raised money for the tribute through events including a race night and a raffle, while money was also donated by Your Housing Group – which manages the site.

Eric Hulmes, a founder member of the veterans group, said; "The veteran community is a vitally important one, and is particularly large around Warrington as a former barracks town.

"There is a large veteran community at Ryfields and many of us are not as mobile as we used to be, so getting to the Cenotaph in town can be difficult.

"We wanted to make sure that every member of the veteran community had access to a place where they could go to remember friends and loved ones, and now we have that.

"We are incredible proud of what we have achieved in such a short time, and a big thank you to Your Housing Group in supporting us and giving us the rest of the funding that we needed."

The Mayor of Warrington Cllr Wendy Johnson, Your Housing Group chief executive Brian Cronin, representatives of the Royal British Legion and Salvation and staff and pupils from Oakwood Avenue Primary School will be in attendance at the unveiling ceremony.

Mr Cronin added: "Your Housing Group is proud to support the veterans group at Ryfields community living village.

"It is important that we are able to commemorate and honour those that served in our armed forces.

"We hope that residents and the whole community are able to enjoy the garden and visit the memorial stone."