PRESS RELEASE
27 October 2014
Heritage Lottery Fund grants £10,000 to community-wide war project in Shetland
The Heritage Lottery Fund’s "First World War: then and now" programme has awarded £10,000 to the Anderson High School and partners, Shetland Family History Society, Shetland Heritage Association and Shetland Museum and Archives, for their World War One project - “Those at Land, Sea, Home and Abroad.”
This intergenerational project focuses on Shetland personnel, their families and their story at home and overseas. Working with local heritage groups, museums, schools and descendants of service personnel, the research gathered will build up the wider community story of Shetland at war.
When complete, the project intends to deliver a legacy to the Anderson High School, local communities and visitors via documented and visual evidence through Shetland Museum and Archives. This will include sharing the stories of Shetland's individual men and women who experienced the war, both of those who survived and those who fell.
The project will involve finding out about the impact of the war upon families and the Shetland community. Stories, memories and memorabilia of the war will be collated and kept for future generations.
Participants in the project will learn about heritage and develop skills in the process. It is hoped that participation will help people to think differently about the local perspective of World War One and gain an understanding of the legacy left. As a result of this project, a larger and more varied cross section of people within Shetland will have the opportunity to engage with wartime heritage.
The project will involve three key elements of heritage field work - work on local wartime heritage sites; building up local war memorial information; and a visit to the memorials of 30 Shetlanders on the Battlefields of France and Belgium.
To mark the centenary of the First World War, a series of events will be held to allow people in Shetland to come together to preserve the memories and heritage of those who lived through the First World War. Volunteers will collect photographs, newspaper clippings, documents, letters and photos of keepsakes, as well as family tales passed down to help them build a clear picture of life at the time.
Information will be gathered and recorded via displays, presentation, publication and on-line archive. The archive will allow the public to contribute, share and research information about the home front. The lasting legacy of the project will be for current and future generations to understand how important the past is to our future.
Commenting on the award, Jon Sandison, Teacher of History at Anderson High School: “We are thrilled to have received the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund and everyone is excited by the work that will be done locally to bring together the stories of those from Shetland who were involved in the Great War, 100 years ago. This aspect of Shetland’s local heritage has, at times, almost been overlooked and forgotten about. This project will aim to ensure that there will be more understanding of its impact on the Shetland community as a whole. Researching and recording this heritage is important because it will be put in place for both the current and future generations.”
Colin McLean, Head of HLF Scotland, said: “The First World War changed the face of modern history touching the lives of everyone in this country and beyond. HLF has committed to funding a variety of projects, from organisations large and small, that are marking this global Centenary. With our small grants programme we are enabling even more communities like those involved in this project in Shetland to explore the continuing legacy of this conflict and help local young people in particular to broaden their understanding of how it has shaped our modern world. We have already supported over £35m of projects from across the United Kingdom and will continue to support as many applications as we can afford that want to commemorate the centenary.”
Ends.