How you can get involved
Discover what's happening near you to commemorate the First World War.
From learning about your local heroes to helping your community mark the centenary, there are plenty of ways you can get involved in commemorating the First World War. For even more ideas download our toolkit.
First World War Centenary Partnership
Find events happening in your local area by visiting www.1914.org.
Heritage Lottery Fund
Find out if you can get funding for your First World War project. Grants from £3,000 are available to mark the centenary by exploring the heritage of the First World War, from memorials and buildings to photographs, letters and literature.
Digital postcards for you to share online
The First World War had a great influence on modern society. Find out and share how it shaped the food we eat, the way we communicate and more with these digital postcards. Explore the sets on Flickr and share across your networks.
Victoria Cross commemorations, local war memorials and finding soldiers’ graves
Paving stones to commemorate Victoria Cross recipients
Discover Victoria Cross paving stones dedicated to heroes in your area.
Conserving and restoring your local war memorials
There’s lots of help available to make sure your local war memorial is looked after properly. Find advice and details about funding for memorials and educational materials at War Memorials, English Heritage and Heritage Lottery Fund.
Recording information about war memorials
Send new information about your local war memorial to War Memorials Archive. Photos and details about damage to the memorial help to prioritise conservation and repair work.
Listing your local war memorials
Check if your memorial is already listed, and if not protect your local war memorial by applying to English Heritage for listed status. Listing means your memorial will be protected in the planning system and that any changes to the memorial or its setting are in keeping with its character.
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Find out about war graves near you or search for relatives who died in the war. There are cemeteries in the UK and across the world for soldiers who died in the First World War.
Discover about life during the First World War
Home Front Legacy 1914-18 Project
Volunteer to search for battlefield remains, find out about First World War sites in your area and record them for the future. This wide-reaching project from English Heritage and the Council for British Archaeology will help you find out how the First World War affected people at home.
Imperial War Museums’ Lives of the First World War
Discover, remember and share the life stories of over 8 million men and women who participated at the home and fighting fronts during the First World War.
National Archives’ Centenary Programme
Search a vast collection of letters, diaries, maps and photographs, as well as government documents. The National Archives is also asking for help to digitise hundreds of war diaries. Other activities include:
- Online collections
- Talks and events
- Learning opportunities
British Library World War One programme
Discover the British Library’s collection of First World War poems, letters, photographs and posters, as well as its new learning zone. Check out its First World War exhibition and events in summer 2014.
Arts, cultural and educational projects to commemorate the First World War
Last Post Project
Take part in a huge music project that will run every year during the four-year commemorations. For a fortnight before and after Remembrance Sunday, people in schools, libraries, places of worship and community centres will play music, and share stories and local memories. Volunteers will play new arrangements of ‘The Last Post’.
14-18 NOW: centenary cultural programme
Find out how to take part in a series of artworks that will bring a new perspective to the commemoration.
Letter writing
Write a letter to an Unknown Soldier. The project is inspired by Charles Jagger’s famous statue in London Paddington station of a soldier reading a letter. You are invited to write that letter. Every letter will be published online alongside contributions from 50 leading writers.
School battlefield visits
Find out how your local school is taking part in the commemorations through the school battlefields programme. Two pupils from every state-funded secondary school will visit the Western Front as part of the centenary commemorations. The children will learn about local people who fought in the war and develop projects in their local area.
Getting businesses involved
Centenary Apprenticeships
Take part in a programme to show the kinds of businesses, trades and crafts that were around during the First World War. If your business has been operating for 100 years or more, it practices skills that existed a century ago and employs, or is looking to employ, apprentices, it could become a central part of the National Service’s Centenary Apprenticeship Programme.