ARGYLL and Bute Council is taking part in a poignant nationwide reflection to mark the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War.

For an hour on the night of Monday 4th August, a number of council offices across Argyll and Bute will remain in darkness, with just a single light left on, as part of the national Lights Out experience.

Lights Out invites everyone in the UK to turn off their lights between 10pm and 11pm on 4th August, leaving on a single light or candle for a shared moment of reflection 100 years to the day after war broke out.

Hundreds of local authorities, government departments, local and national organisations and places of worship across the UK have signed up to Lights Out. The project’s central theme comes from the words of Sir Edward Grey, British Foreign Secretary in August 1914, who said: “The lamps are going out all over Europe; we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime”.

Six Argyll and Bute Council offices will be darkened, save for a single lamp lit and placed in a window, between 10pm and 11pm on Monday 4th August. The buildings involved are the council’s headquarters at Kilmory, Lochgilphead; Argyll House in Dunoon; Rothesay’s Eaglesham House; Municipal Buildings, Oban; the Burnett Building in Campbeltown and Helensburgh’s Municipal Buildings.

Argyll and Bute Council Leader, Councillor Dick Walsh, said: “Throughout 2014 we will be remembering the centenary of the First World War in a number of ways. It is very important to think about the sacrifice that so many people made for their country and, ultimately, for the freedom we enjoy today.

“Leaving a single lamp burning in a darkened building is a simple but effective visual reminder to stop and reflect on the events of 100 years ago.  The bravery of those who gave their lives still resonates to this day – our lives today in the 21st century could have turned out very differently had they not been prepared to pay the ultimate price.”

You can find out more about the nationwide Lights Out reflection at www.1418now.org.uk/lights-out/moment/lights-out-argyll-and-bute-council/ including details of how to take part.