COMMUNITIES and groups across the North-East and North Yorkshire have been invited to have a share of a multi-million grants scheme set up to mark the centenary of the First World War.

The Heritage Lottery Fund is today (Wednesday, May 15) launching a new £6m small grants programme – making at least £1m available per year for six years until 2019.

It will provide grants between £3,000 and £10,000 enabling communities and groups across the UK to explore, conserve and share their First World War heritage and deepen their understanding of the impact of the conflict.

Ivor Crowther, head of HLF North-East, 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 in the North-East 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.”

Sebastian Faulks, broadcaster, novelist, author of Birdsong and member of the Government’s First World War Centenary advisory group, said: “HLF’s First World War small grants programme is an opportunity for every street, town or village to make sure they remember the cataclysmic events of a hundred years ago.”

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; researching, writing and performing creative material based on heritage sources.

The new programme can also provide funding for the conservation of war memorials.

If a grant of more than £10,000 is needed, applicants can apply to the HLF through its open programmes.

An online application pack is available at http://www.hlf.org.uk/ThenAndNow or contact the HLF North- East Team by email on northeastcontact@hlf.org.uk or telephone 0191-255 7570.

Among the projects previously funded by the HLF is the Wartime Memories Project, which was awarded £15,000 to explore the impact of the war on everyday lives, as captured in photographs previously owned by Bishop Auckland photographer William Dixon Dent.

 

Volunteers from County Durham and Stockton researched digested and preserved the images, developing an exhibition and short film around them.