Member Article

Keepmoat helps to restore World War memorial

Tributes to a village’s fallen war heroes will live on, thanks to community-minded housing bosses.

A war memorial, bearing the names of servicemen and women who died in World War One and World War Two, came under threat when workmen moved in to demolish its long-term home at the former Victoria Murton workmen’s club in County Durham.

Housing and regeneration specialists, Keepmoat stepped in and agreed to dismantle the much-loved memorial and move it to a safer place as part of the work that it is undertaking within the area on behalf of East Durham Homes.

Barry Metters, Construction Manager at Keepmoat, said: “We have been working in Murton for more than 12 months and are always looking to become actively involved within the community.

“Our client, East Durham Homes asked if we would be able to dismantle the memorial and move it. We agreed to do so immediately as we felt it would be a travesty if the memorial could not be saved.”

A team of two managers and four workers succeeded in safely dismantling the impressive wooden and stone memorial, which was taken to a safe environment prior to finding a permanent new home.

David Hodgson, Decent Homes Manager at East Durham Homes, said:: “It’s really important for us and our partners to support the local community and when local councillors contacted us following a request made by Derek Gibson of Murton Heritage Society about the Murton war memorial, we were really pleased that Keepmoat were able to step in and save it.”

Keepmoat is currently working in partnership with East Durham Homes to carry out home improvements to its properties across the District.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Craig Downs .