The Heritage Lottery Fund has announced today Centenary projects at local, regional and national levels which have been awarded financial support.
First World War: then and now
The Heritage Lottery Fund has been an important means for those planning Centenary events and projects to receive support. Several funding programmes have already been established by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
First World War: then and now, is one such programme. It is a £6 million small grants programme which “aims to help communities explore, conserve and share their First World War heritage”.
Projects which have received funding announced today include blind and partially sighted groups in Wolverhampton which will begin researching how the war advanced ophthalmic medicine; a research project about Bolton soldiers who fought in the Gallipoli Campaign; and a local research project into the role of Scottish women’s war work – including nurses.
Dame Jenny Abramsky, Chair of the Heritage Lottery Fund, said: “The impact of the First World War was incredibly far reaching. Our new programme only opened in May and already Heritage Lottery Fund has seen a great deal of interest in people wanting to commemorate this important Centenary, coming forward with a myriad of fascinating ideas for projects. This is just the beginning of some very interesting explorations for communities everywhere”.
Smaller grants
Blinded by war – £10,000 grant
The Blinded by War research project by Focus Insight in Wolverhampton has received £10,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Local groups in Wolverhampton, largely made up of blind and visually impaired people, will research and explain the impact that the First World War had on ophthalmic medicine.
Poisonous gas, shrapnel and other battlefield injuries during the First World War meant that important developments in the treatment of eye injuries were made during the conflict.
Tracing Your Roots Back to Gallipoli – £9,900 grant
The Tracing Your Roots Back to Gallipoli research project, by Diversity in Barrier-Breaking Communications in Bolton, has received £9,900 from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The project will research the involvement of Bolton soldiers in the Gallipoli Campaign of 1915.
The effects of the Gallipoli Campaign on the people of Bolton will be “researched and analysed” by 20-30 young people. Casualties from Bolton will be researched, as well as what their roles were in the campaign and their lives before the First World War.
Bolton residents learning about the role local soldiers played at the Battle of Gallipoli
First World War – £5,500 grant
The First World War project by Brecon Remembers in Brecon, Wales, has received financial support of £5,500 from Heritage Lottery Fund.
The initiative will allow people to discover the stories of 119 men commemorated on Brecon war memorials.
Scottish Women’s Hospitals World War I Remembrance – £8,300 grant
A local research project, Scottish Women’s Hospital World War I Remembrance, has received a grant of £8,300.
The funding will allow local people to research the work of Scottish women, including nurses, during the First World War.
The Abbotskerswell Roll of Honour project – £6,600 grant
The Abbortskerswell Roll of Honour project in Devon, being carried out by AbbPast, has received a grant worth £6,600.
The project will provide a study of Abbotskerwell village life during the First World War involving local schools, and will include the renovation of the graves of three men from the village who died in battle.
Earls Colne War Memorial – £6,000 grant
Earls Colne Parish Council in Essex has received £6,000 in order to create an exhibition about the men from the village who lost their lives during the First World War.
The lives of 35 men – who are commemorated on their local war memorial – will be remembered at the exhibition. The war memorial itself will also be renovated.
Legacies of War, Untold Otley Stories – £8,200 grant
Otley Museum & Archive Trust in West Yorkshire has been awarded £8,200 to mark the Centenary.
The Legacies of War – Untold Otley Stories project will allow local community groups “to understand how families from Otely and the wider community were affected by the First World War”.
Larger grants
Heritage Lottery Fund also provides larger grants through its open programmes to support Centenary projects. A number of successful applications for this funding have been announced today.
Filmed and Not Forgotten – £52,400 grant
The Yorkshire Film Archive’s Filmed and Not Forgotten project will enable the Archive to “discover the stories of people captured on film in its First World War collection”.
The £52,400 funding provided by Heritage Lottery Fund means that a concerted effort to identify individuals in the footage can now be made.
The films, and the stories of the people in them, will be brought together in screenings and as online exhibition, so that “everyone can see and learn about the impact of the First World War on communities across the region”.
The funding provided will also enable the conservation and digitisation of the archive.
Football & Peace Project – £32,500 grant
The National Children’s Football Alliance has been awarded £32,500 by the Heritage Lottery Fund for a project in Kent exploring the 1914 ‘Christmas Truce‘.
The Christmas truce football match will be used “as a vehicle to explore the relationship between sport and the First World War”.
Local people across Kent will research the impact of the conflict on local communities and will in particular explore the importance of recreation to soldiers.
A documentary film of the project will be produced along with a website which will feature the research and oral histories collected.
A final exhibition of the project’s work will be presented at Maidstone United Football Club, Gallagher Stadium.
First World War soldiers playing football
Hermitage, Hexham: Morant family collection – £9,700 grant
Durham Country Council has been awarded almost £10,000 by Heritage Lottery Fund.
This will enable Durham County Records Office and Northumberland Collections to purchase contents relating to the First World War from the country house, the Hermitage at Hexham.
The house was the home of Morant family for 90 years. They chose to store an array of items “in extensive attics”, which are now of historical significance.
Amongst the items are objects and artefacts related to the 68th Regiment of Foot and Durham Light Infantry. Three generations of the family were senior officers in the regiment, including Brigadier General Hubert Horatio Shirley Morant, who raised and commanded the 10th Battalion Durham Light Infantry in the First World War.
Morant family archive
Wymondham’s Great War – £30,200 grant
Wymondham Cluster Extended Schools in Norfolk will commemorate the Centenary of the First World War with a Festival Day in July 2014.
“Each of the 12 cluster schools will contribute to part of the Festival which will include an original drama production, songs, music, dance, film, an artefact fair, animation, poetry and at work”.
“To produce the Festival, extra-curricular clubs will run at each school throughout the academic year 2013-2014, where pupils will research the lives of local families at the time of the war, from those that fought to the impact on those left behind”.
Lincolnshire Remembrance: Memories and Memorials – £74,800 grant
Lincolnshire County Council has been awarded almost £75,000 for a project which will allow people in the county to “explore and research the stories behind the names on their local war memorials and the effects the conflict had on local communities”.
World War I Heritage Project – £17,300 grant
Diseworth Heritage Trust in Leicestershire’s Centenary project will allow “current and future generations of Diseworth to connect with the lives and stories of those who lived in the village during the First World War”.
Now the last poppy has fallen: Essex during World War I – £65,000 grant
The Essex Record Office will create a touring exhibition reflecting the stories from the Essex home front during the First World War.
Grants are still available for First World War projects. To find out how to apply for funding, click here.
For applications of more than £10,000, click here.
Source: Heritage Lottery Fund press release
Date of press release: 04/08/2013
Images courtesy of Heritage Lottery Fund
Posted by: Daniel Barry, Centenary News