IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT
BELLEWAARDE 1915 MEMORIAL FUND
This appeal is now closed and any further donations cannot be accepted
It is with the deepest regret and heaviest of hearts that I write to inform you that Bellewaarde 1915 will not be able to fulfil its goal of erecting a memorial to the fallen of 16th June 1915 at the Hooge Crater Museum on the centenary 16th June 2015.
The charity has worked hard to gain enough funds and it was never going to be easy, for the bronze 'Three Soldier Statue', but we are far short of this goal. We discussed other options and decided upon a stone monument with three bronze plaques, one of each soldier, but again the costs were far higher than we could arrange in the time frame that we had.
Most of the funds were to come from corporate sponsors, whilst the rest was made up from your generous donations.
At a second management meeting on 9th April 2015, it was decided that nothing more could be done to save the project and therefore from 10th April 2015, we will set about the closure of donations to the charity. It is not known at this stage if anything can be organised for a later date, but we will keep you up todate.
Due to the fact that most charities in the U.K. fail to reach their goal it has always been part of our philosophy to ensure that if we failed to meet our goal, our donors would be repaid, however, this we will set out to do as soon as is practicable after all other solutions have been explored.
If you are concerned about the donation you have made, or would like more information please email the charity direct at: bellewaarde1915@btinternet.com and we will respond to you as soon as possible.
I do appreciate that this announcement is not what we had wished for and we realise and understand that many people will be very upset, but at least the remembrance of the men of Bellewaarde have been brought to the forefront. They will also have a permanent place in the form of the Bellewaarde 1915 website.
We also wish to make it clear that the Hooge Crater Museum and its owner, Niek Benoot, bears no responsibility for the decisions of the Bellewaarde 1915 Charity.
Martin Clift
Bellewaarde 1915