Charity hunts war memorial sponsorships
New charity the Friends of War Memorials is hunting for companies to sponsor war memorials and pay for their maintenance.
It also intends to encourage local schools to adopt some of the nation’s 70,000 memorials.
It could lead to direct corporate branding on the memorials.
The drive to involve schools was welcomed by the Royal British Legion, though it was not aware of the plans to seek corporate sponsors.
The initiative originated in the US, where household goods company Sara Lee was the first to join. There is a similar scheme in Australia.
Charity founder Ian Davidson says hundreds of major corporations have been contacted and negotiations are underway with a leading telecoms company.
