Remembrance Events

Every year, on 31st August, a service of remembrance is held in Liverpool to remember Diana, Princess of Wales, and all road crash victims.

This special remembrance service usually takes place in Liverpool Cathedral each year on the anniversary of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales in a road crash.

Due to the pandemic, the Ceremony of Remembrance is being held online, premiering on RoadPeace’s YouTube channel at 2pm on Tuesday 31^st August.

Last year’s remembrance service has been uploaded to RoadPeace’s YouTube channel

Every year on the second Saturday of August, during National Road Victim month, a ceremony of remembrance is held at RoadPeace Wood.

In 2021 the ceremony took place online, premiering on RoadPeace’s YouTube channel. The service took place at 2pm on Saturday 14th August 2021. You can watch the service here.

The National Memorial Arboretum was founded by David Childs as a place where the lives of people could be remembered by living trees that would grow and mature in a world at peace. It is a 150 acre site on the edge of the National Forest at Alrewas, Staffordshire.

There will be a mixture of in person and online services happening this year. All are taking place on Sunday 21st November. If you’d like to attend one of the services below, or would like more information, please get in touch with the contact listed.

RoadPeace Online Service – premiering on our YouTube channel at 2pm

RoadPeace North West local group, Liverpool – In the Concert Room of St George’s Hall, St George’s Place, L1 1JJ – 1.30pm (contact: Pauline Fielding – pauline.fielding@btinternet.com)

RoadPeace West Midlands local group, Birmingham – St Martin in the Bull Ring, B5 5BB – 2.30pm (contact: Lucy Harrison – lucie479@hotmail.com)

RoadPeace East Midlands service, Northampton – Church of the Holy Sepulchre, NN1 3NL – 3.00pm (contact: Nicole Taylor onetanglewood@gmail.com)

Lancashire Online Service – more information here – 9.00am (contact: safertravelteam@lancashire.gov.uk)

Sheffield Service, Sheffield – Upper Chapel (Unitarian), Norfolk Street, Sheffield S1 2JD – 6.30pm (contact: Rev Andy Phillips – andy@upperchapelsheffield.org.uk)

Hull Service, Hull – The Reception Room, The Guildhall, Hull, HU2 1AA – 2.30pm (contact: Allan Robins – Allan.Robins@hullcc.gov.uk)

The World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims is held every year on the third Sunday of November.

The next World Day of Remembrance is on Sunday 21st November 2021.

This day focuses on both the overall scale and the individual devastation caused by road deaths and injuries and the impact upon families and communities around the world.  Almost 4,000 people are killed and many hundreds of thousands injured on roads throughout the world every day.  Many more have to cope with bereavement or the effects of injury and thus become part of the huge group of people affected by road carnage.

In recent years many varied events have taken place, such as the march through the City of Bath to an open-air gathering, the Critical Mass of cyclists through London to the sites where someone was killed, or a Remembrance Concert with many bands in Johannesburg.  Schools hold special assemblies, minutes of silence, or allow pupils to express their thoughts or feelings in essays and various art forms. People are encouraged to create acts of remembrance in their own way.

In religious gatherings of all kinds, the reading out of names of those killed and injured, the lighting of candles and offering of flowers or acorns as signs of hope, help the bereaved and injured to find expression for their sorrow and give them the courage to go forward. These meetings and ritual acts bring people together and make them appreciate that they are not alone.

You are encouraged to create acts of remembrance in your own way, whether in a religious service, remembrance ceremony, special concert, or other ways that bring together family, friends, schools and local communities

Visit our Remembrance resources page to find out more.

The World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims had its origin in 1993 as RoadPeace’s response to road crash victims’ need for public recognition, which was  more readily given to victims of other types of crime, disaster or war.   It was also seen as a day to commend the vital work of those involved in the aftermath of a crash – including fire, police and ambulance teams, doctors, nurses and counsellors.
The European Federation of Road Traffic Victims (FEVR) then observed this day of remembrance for 10 years along with RoadPeace. This led to the World Day being created. On 26 October 2005, the United Nations General Assembly called on all Member States to adopt and recognise the third Sunday in November of every year as the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims.  The UN believes this is an appropriate acknowledgement for victims and families of road traffic crashes and also a way to draw attention to the consequences and costs of road crashes and to measures that can be taken to prevent them.  Its aim is to remind governments and individual members of society of their responsibility to make roads safer.
The World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims is now observed in countries in every continent of the world.For more information about international activities visit www.worlddayofremembrance.org a website developed by Brigitte Chaudhry, Founder of RoadPeace and president of the European Federation of Road Traffic Victims (FEVR).