With a year to go until we mark the centenary of the UK entering the First World War, Anne Milton MP is urging her constituents to consider applying to the Heritage Lottery Fund for community projects to learn more about the First World War.
The Heritage Lottery Fund is making at least £1million a year available until 2019 as part of the First World War: then and now programme for small, community grants. It will provide grants of £3,000 to £10,000, giving groups right across the UK to explore, conserve and share their First World War heritage and deepen their understanding of the impact of the conflict.
Anne Milton MP is asking local people how they would like to mark the Centenary. Successful projects will include:
- researching, identifying and recording local heritage;
- creating a community archive or collection;
- developing new interpretation of heritage through exhibitions, trails, smartphone apps etc;
- researching, writing and performing creative material based on heritage sources;
- conserving and finding out more about war memorials
Anne Milton MP said: “I am very pleased that the Heritage Lottery Fund is making this money available locally. Like many areas across the UK, the impact of the First World War on the people of Guildford was extensive. For those who want to find out more about its legacy or who wish to mark the Centenary, then please do get in touch with the Fund.”
Dame Jenny Abramsky, Chair of the Fund, said: “The impact of the First World War was far reaching, touching and shaping every corner of the UK and beyond. The Heritage Lottery Fund’s new programme will enable communities to explore the continuing legacy of this war and help young people in particular to broaden their understanding of how it has shaped our modern world.”
The Fund has already invested over £15million in projects – large and small – that will mark the Centenary of First World War. If a group have a project idea to mark the Centenary of the First World War, an online application pack is available: http://www.hlf.org.uk/ThenAndNow. If a group needs a grant of more than £10,000 for a First World War project, it can apply to the Fund through its open programmes.
UK Government Centenary plans
In October 2012, the Prime Minister set out the Government’s plans to mark the centenaries of the First World War commencing in 2014. These plans include a £35m refurbishment of the First World War galleries at the Imperial War Museum ; The Government’s principal partners in the commemorations will be the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Imperial War Museum, but will encompass support for a multitude of other initiatives, large and small, as they come together in the months and years to come.
Speaking at the Imperial War Museum in October, Prime Minister David Cameron said: “A truly national commemoration cannot just be about national initiatives and government action. It needs to be local too...Let’s get out there and make this centenary a truly national moment in every community in our land.”