Riverside are looking for volunteers to get involved in a commemorative wooden sculpture to complement the memorial mosaic recently installed near to the skate park in North Bransholme.

The memorial mosaic was overseen by artist Bernadette Hughes and was constructed by members of United Residents of Bransholme area North (URBaN), Riverside and over 700 local people.

Riverside have commissioned sculptors Thompson Dagnall and Tilly Dagnall to create a commemorative wooden sculpture, reminiscent of the Word War I trenches, to reflect the messages already created in the mosaic. Some of Thompson’s previous projects can be seen at www.thompsondagnall.co.uk

Thompson Dagnall said “The sculpture will involve two rows of oak posts leaning out with boards fixed horizontally to be reminiscent of the shoring used on the sides of the trenches. Into these will be carved a series of profiles as if they are marching behind each other. My aim of using images of young people from Bransholme is to bring home the reality of 1914-18, when they would have been the ones that volunteered to go off to a foreign land with the likelihood of never returning.”

The sculpture will be named “Hull Pals”. The first Hull Pals battalion was formed on the 29th August 1914 at Wenlock Barracks and formed part of the East Yorkshire Regiment and won two Victoria Crosses in the First World War

North Bransholme tenants and residents are invited to get involved in the final design of the sculpture by suggesting quotes or images that reflect World War I. In addition we are asking for young people aged between 14 and 18 years to send in headshot photographs in side profile, preferably taken in natural light, so that a selection of the images can be used in the final piece. This age range, 14-18, reflects the 1914-918 dates of World War I and also the age range of many of the volunteers that went off to fight.

Residents have until Armistice Day on 11^th November 2015 to submit their suggested quotes and photos. Submissions can be made to URBaN by email at [email protected] or by dropping them off at the URBaN office, 9 Appin Close (open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday 10 am to 12 noon).