Building a greater understanding of war memorial heritage, particularly among young people, has been one of the aims of War Memorials Trust for a number of years.
In 2003 work began on developing an education strategy, recognising that education was central to promoting the importance of war memorials.
In 2008 War Memorials Trust collaborated with the United Kingdom National Inventory of War Memorials (UKNIWM, now known as the IWM's War Memorials Register) on a proposal for a joint Learning Programme, which was subject to UKNIWM securing a funding package. Unfortunately the relevant bid was unsuccessful.
Learning conferences
War Memorials Trust therefore looked at how it could deliver aspects of the proposal independently. Initially, in 2009, War Memorials Trust launched educational conferences for professionals aimed at assisting those involved in war memorial conservation. Five conferences were held across the UK in 2009 and 2010 for war memorial custodians and contractors. This aspect of the work was prioritised because it directly impacted upon the Trust’s core activity.
The Learning Programme
However, alongside these conferences, in 2010 the charity began fundraising for a youth focused Learning Programme. Educating tomorrow’s custodians about our war memorials is vital if the work we do today is going to be preserved in the future. In May 2011, the Trustees decided that it was appropriate to start the programme and in August 2011 a Learning Officer joined the charity.
Our Learning Officer began by working with a number of schools, youth groups and other heritage organisations to research and develop the Learning Programme. A full list of the people and organisations we worked with during the early days of the Learning Programme can be found on our Acknowledgements page. War Memorials Trust is extremely grateful to these organisations for their support.
From 2012 through to 2019 our Learning Officer created a range of useful resources which can be used by both teachers and youth group leaders. These include lesson plans, assemblies, information sheets, helpsheets, case studies and project sheets. Initially resources which focus on introducing war memorials were created. These cover activities such as researching names on war memorials, visiting a war memorial and designing a war memorial. Themed resources are also available on topics including World War II and the key anniversaries or issues associated with World War I. Local resources which focus on war memorials in Kent and Sussex have also been produced.
To provide young people with the opportunity to record information about their local war memorial on War Memorials Online, as many members of the public do, our Learning Officer worked in partnership with Historic England to produce a set of condition survey resources. In subsequent years Historic England has developed these resources further with the addition of an e-learning module which guides teachers through how to support their class carry out a survey as well as a film, both of which our Learning Officer contributed to. These resources have proved to be a brilliant way of engaging young people with their war memorial heritage and will also help to protect war memorials for years to come.
Throughout the course of the Learning Programme, our Learning Officer has delivered visits to schools and youth groups which have been very well received. Over 100 visits across the length and breadth of the United Kingdom have ensured almost 10,000 young people have gained a more developed understanding of their war memorial heritage. Further details about these visits which included assemblies, classroom sessions and visits to local war memorials can be viewed in the Primary, Secondary and Youth Group Showcases.
Learning Volunteers Project
In September 2013 War Memorials Trust received a grant of £9,900 from the Heritage Lottery Fund’s Sharing Heritage scheme to develop a Learning Volunteer role. This grant was used to fund a yearlong project to train Learning Volunteers to deliver learning sessions in schools and youth groups, so that they could work directly with young people and help them learn about their war memorial heritage. Following their training, the Learning Volunteers carried out 31 sessions during which they worked with around 750 young people.
More information about this project can be found on the Learning Volunteers page.
The future
War Memorials Trust is entirely dependent on voluntary donations to be able to run the Learning Programme. In 2019, as a result of the end of various funding programmes associated with the World War I centenary, War Memorials Trust's Trustees made the difficult decision that the cost of maintaining the Learning Programme was beyond the charity's resources.
The website and its resources provide a valuable legacy for the programme. Teachers and youth group leaders can continue to use these to encourage the young people they work with to engage with their war memorial heritage. However at this point in time, without a Learning Officer, the Trust is unable to offer visits as it has done previously.
The Trust will be evaluating its education work and how it can engage young people as part of its ongoing work. Then, as its financial position over the longer term becomes clearer it will be able to consider future activities.
