A South Lanarkshire councillor will deliver the area's first British Sign Language (BSL) Remembrance Sunday address.
Councillor Grant Ferguson, who is profoundly deaf, will lead the welcome and lay the first wreath at the East Kilbride war memorial this weekend.
One of fewer than 20 hearing impaired or deaf elected politicians in Scotland, Councillor Ferguson's address is also believed to be a first for local government in Scotland.
And it’s his experience of ‘building a bridge between the hearing and deaf communities’ since his election in 2019 that propelled him to offer to lead the event in his hometown on Sunday.
He told Lanarkshire Live: “I believe this is the first time that a deaf councillor has presented the first wreath for a council on such an important day of Remembrance, and addressed the attendees in BSL with the aid of an interpreter.
“This will be a significant event for the deaf community in South Lanarkshire, and I regard it is a huge privilege.”
Also joining Councillor Ferguson at the event - which starts at 10.50am on Sunday - will be Depute Lord Lieutenant Fazal Buksh, East Kilbride MP, Dr Lisa Cameron and constituency MSP Collette Stevenson.
Councillor Ferguson’s welcome, which will be voiced for the assembled crowd, will be followed by a short service jointly led by Rev. Anne Paton of East Kilbride Old Parish Church and Father Rafael Sobieszuk, Parish Priest of St Bride’s RC Church.
The Last Post will sound before the two minutes’ silence at 11am, after which Cllr Ferguson and Depute Lieutenant Buksh will lead Lisa Cameron MP, Collette Stevenson MSP and the men’s and women’s sections of the Royal British Legion in the laying of wreaths.
In his address, Councillor Ferguson will pay tribute to the fallen of more than 100 years, as ‘in-person’ events take place across the country once more and the restrictions brought by the Covid-19 pandemic continue to ease.
He went on: “For many of us, this is the first Remembrance event we might have had the chance to attend since the outbreak of the pandemic. As we think of those lost in decades of conflict around the world, we can’t help but also remember the tens of thousands of lives lost to this virus over the past 18 months.
“Our prayers, thoughts and thanks go also to every key worker who has helped pull our nation through one of the worst crises we have seen in peace time.”
Councillor Ferguson will also speak of the unimaginable sacrifice of every man and woman who went to war, never to return.
“On battlefields often thousands of miles from home they gave their lives so we could live ours as we do – in freedom," he added.
“Quite simply we gather each November to stand witness; to make sure that these sacrifices are never forgotten by our generation, and those to come, who continue to benefit from their legacy.
“It’s a debt that can never be repaid, a gratitude that can never be offered too often, and a light that never goes out.”
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