Britain’s First World War Minister, Helen Grant, has announced a four-year programme to create ukwarmemorials.org, a ‘one stop shop’ for information on all UK war memorials along with where to go for advice and funding.
Funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the initiative draws resources together from across the Britain.
The website aims to allow easy access to what specialist organisations know about war memorials and tap into expert advice on how best to look after them. This includes how to get grants for conservation and how to have memorials listed.
The site will expand in stages over the next four years so that by the end of the project, it will be easily searchable, helping people track down historical information, listed status, condition and inscribed names.
Eventually, the site will cover war memorials commemorating all modern conflicts up to and including Afghanistan.
Visiting Watford Peace Memorial, restored by the local community with a grant of almost £5,000 from the War Memorials Trust, Helen Grant said:
“After the First World War, war memorials were erected across the country in a huge wave of remembrance. They were and remain records of our nation’s sacrifice, our personal and collective memories carved in stone. Our part in this ongoing story is to learn, record, restore and protect them for the future.”
For more information, visit ukwarmemorials.org
Posted by: Hannah Schneider, Centenary News