A NUMBER of services will take place across St Helens on Remembrance Sunday to honour war heroes of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Memorial services will take place on Sunday November 13, with parades, ceremonies, and war exhibitions to be held.

For those looking to pay their respects, here are the locations holding a service on Remembrance Sunday: 

St Helens

Locals are invited to visit Victoria Square at 10:30am where a parade, led by Armed Forces veterans and young representatives from the cadets, scouts, and guides, will march from Birchley Street to the cenotaph near St Helens Town Hall.

Following the parade will be the ceremony, opened with a welcome and prayers from Reverend Rachel Shuttleworth, ahead of the two-minute silence at 11am.

Veterans will later continue the ceremony with words of commemoration and readings, followed by performances from Haydock Male Voice Choir, Valley Brass Band and Anna, and the Golden Age Songbird.

To bring the ceremony to a close, wreathes and crosses will be laid in front of the town hall.

Refreshments will be available and a St Helens Archive exhibition, illustrating the impact of war on the lives of local people, will be displayed in the town hall.

Newton-le-Willows

A war memorial will be held at 10:45 am at Earlestown Town Hall, with a parade to take place in the town centre.

Following the parade will be a church service at St John’s Church, led by Reverend Tim Griffiths, before refreshments at Viaduct Sports Club on Earle Street.

Junction of Burrows Lane and St Helens Road, Eccleston Park – 11am

St Ann’s Church, Rainhill – 10:30am (followed by refreshments at the ex-services club)

Rainford All Saints Parish Church

St Marks Church, West End Road, Haydock - 1:30pm (service in the church followed by wreath laying at the war memorial outside)

Memorial Garden, Vista Road, Haydock – meet at 2:30pm for 3pm service.

Small services are also set to take place from 10:45am in St Helens, Earlestown, Rainford, Crank, and Billinge, where local primary schools will head to the Remembrance Garden at the top of Main Street for a service. 

READ > Ten of the best designs at St Helens Scarecrow Festival

St Helens Borough Council’s Armed Forces Champion and Deputy Mayor, Councillor Lynn Clarke, said: "Remembrance Sunday is a fitting opportunity for us to honour those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country by defending our freedoms and protecting our way of life. 

"We ask that you join us in attending a commemoration service to help ensure their memory lives on forever."

Councillor Anthony Burns, cabinet member for Wellbeing, Culture and Heritage, added: "Remembrance Sunday is the most important occasion on our events calendar, with hundreds of people - young and old - turning out each year to pay their respects and this year will be no different.  

"Our borough has more than played its part in the many wars and conflicts throughout history. While many have lived to tell their stories, we’ve sadly lost a lot along the way too who gave their tomorrow for our today."

To find what support is available in St Helens Borough for members of the Armed Forces, past and present, visit http://www.sthelens.gov.uk/armedforces