£2.8m victory on funding for fallen heroes

The Lottery Millennium Commission confirmed its donation of £2.8million to the Armed Forces Memorial project.

It will give £2,416,500 towards the construction of the memorial honouring 16,000 servicemen and women killed on duty since the end of the Second World War.

Another £416,500 will go directly for infrastructure improvements at the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas, Staffordshire, where the memorial is being built, to meet the expected increase in visitors.

The Millennium Commission, set up to fund major projects marking the turn of the century, is being wound up last week.

It committed its remaining cash to the memorial after a storm of public outrage when another distributor, the Big Lottery Fund, refused to help.

The Daily Mail led a campaign to save the memorial and Chancellor Gordon Brown, who had already contributed cash from sales of a special commemorative coin, let it be known that he was furious.

Vice Admiral Sir John Dunt, chairman of the Armed Forces Memorial Trust, said last night: I am very grateful to the Millennium Commissioners for agreeing to provide such tremendous support.'