A COMMUNITY group hoping to commemorate a First World War hero who received the Victoria Cross is appealing for votes to win a cash boost.

Newton and Earlestown Community Group is hoping for a grant from the Tesco Bags of Help initiative to help create a statue of VC winner Norman Harvey.

The scheme sees Tesco team up with Groundwork with sums of £4,000, £2,000 and £1,000 awarded to community projects.

Three groups in every region are shortlisted which shoppers then vote for in May and June.

The NECG has been shortlisted, which hopes to unveil the statue in time for the centenary of his receiving the VC on October 25, 1918.

“It is vital that we remember this significant moment in history,” said NECG member and Newton councillor Seve Gomez-Aspron.

Norman’s award recognised his actions in Ingoyhem, Belgium. When his battalion was held up suffering severe casualties from machine-gun fire, he ran forward and engaged the enemy single-handed, killing two, wounding one and capturing 12 men and two guns.

He later used a hidden machine-gun to put the enemy to flight. At night he went out alone and gathered important information, throughout limping with a sprained ankle.

Born in Newton on April 6, 1899, Norman enlisted in the 4th Battalion South Lancashire Regiment in November 1914, when he was 15. He was transferred to the 1st Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers in April 1918. After the War, Norman lived at Old Station in Parkside Road.

He re-enlisted for World War II and was killed in action in 1942. He is buried in Haifa, Israel.