THERE was double delight for Penistone military campaigner Joe Pinguey.
First he heard that he has won funding for a RAF centenary bench to be sited at the Grammar School.
Then came a complete surprise to be told he is to receive a Freedom of the Town award from the town council for ‘eminent service’ within the community.
He will be presented with the honour at a meeting of the council on Monday.
“I didn’t even know the award existed,” said Joe. “I haven’t done all this work for fame and glory. I have done it because I wanted to and for my community.”
At the beginning of the year, Joe was given a voting slot in the Tesco Bags of Help scheme in a bid to raise £1,500 for the memorial bench to mark 100 years of the RAF in 2018. He was up against two other good causes with shoppers voting on how much each would receive.
Now Joe has been told his project came first in the voting. So the bench will be created by local wood sculptor Steve Tarr and sited at Penistone Grammar School, near its own war memorial.
Joe has organised various military anniversary events since 2010 for communities in and around Penistone.
He said: “Both my late parents and uncle served in the RAF in the second world war and I have the greatest respect for all service personnel past and present.”
Last June, he held an RAF centenary to coincide with Armed Forces Day and afterwards was approached by Steve Tarr, well known in Penistone for designing the bench outside Tesco and the Remembrance Day ‘Lest We Forget’ bench in High Street.
“Steve’s dad served in the RAF and he asked me if he could design and make a centenary bench,” said Joe.
His position with Barnsley War Memorial Project gave him the chance to apply to Tesco for funding. Penistone Town Council has already made a donation towards the cost of the bench and Joe says he has also had support from the owners of the local Spar shop.
At the last meeting, members of the town council went into closed session to decide who would receive Freedom of the Town awards. Three recipients were agreed - of which Joe is one. The other two have not been named.
