A FESTIVAL of Remembrance at a North-East theatre is to be dedicated to a man from the region who died fighting abroad.

Sapper Daryn Roy, 28, from Dipton, County Durham, was killed by a roadside bomb in March, while serving in Afghanistan.

It will be the first time the annual show to honour fallen servicemen at the Empire Theatre, in Consett, has been dedicated to an individual. It will feature the choir from Sapper Roy’s former primary school.

Consett’s Poppy Appeal organiser Vera Parnaby said: “It is not something we have done before, but I suggested it because he was local lad from Derwentside.”

Mrs Parnaby, 71, from Blackhill, was speaking at the launch of the Poppy Appeal on behalf of the Royal British Legion.

Durham County Council’s chairman, Councillor Mac Williams, attended the launch at the Garden of Remembrance outside Christ Church, in Consett, yesterday.

The Festival of Remembrance will take place at the theatre next Saturday, at 7pm.

Tickets cost £5 and can be booked by calling 01207- 218171.

Consett town centre will host the annual Remembrance service and parade on Sunday, November 14.

Meanwhile, an epic journey through the North-East by a wheelchair-bound Army veteran has reached its conclusion.

Along his 125 mile route, 36- year-old Paul McClintock has raised thousands of pounds for the Royal British Legion.

Mr McClintock, from Leadgate, near Consett, finished the Tweed2Tees trek at the bridge over the river at Croft, near Darlington, yesterday afternoon, having set off from Berwick last Friday.

Mr McClintock said the trek raised approximately £7,000, of which nearly £1,000 was donations received along the route.

He said: “The support along the route from the public was great. It’s good to have finished, but we’re already thinking of ideas about what we can do next year now.”

Wreath-laying services will mark the loss of soldier’s lives in Afghanistan in two County Durham communities on Remembrance Sunday.

Deputy lord lieutenant Hilary Armstrong, who is also a former MP, will lay a wreath at Crook cenotaph, on Sunday, November 14.

A second will be laid by RAF nurse Anthony Kyle, who is from Willington and has served in Afghanistan, at Willington’s cenotaph.

Beverley Thomas, honorary Poppy Appeal organiser for Crook, Willington and the surrounding area, said: “We felt as a community that we should honour those who have lost their lives in the ongoing conflict.”

Anyone from the area who wants to buy a wreath is asked to visit Willington Community Resource Centre, The Hive or St Catherine’s Centre, all in Crook.