WWII film archive project launched

The Big Lottery Fund has announced a £225,000 film archive project to create a dynamic and lifelong learning resource, as the final strand of the £10 million Their Past Your Future (TPYF) scheme.
The scheme is part of the wider Veteran's Reunited programme dedicated to giving people of all ages the opportunity to learn about the enduring impact of the Second World War both in Britain and worldwide.
The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) will use the funding to award grants to Regional Film Archives (RFA) across the nation transforming Second World War footage into a state-of-the-art historical archive.
The digitised archive will increase free public access to moving image materials that relate to wartime and the period of the immediate post-war reconstruction. It will also compliment ongoing TPYF educational outreach activities that are encouraging communities, with special focus on young people, to engage in history and to enjoy learning about the nation's traditions and its conflicts.
Justin Cavernelis-Frost, MLA's Head of Archive Development welcomed this programme: "This is a great opportunity to bring to a wider audience a unique perspective on life in Britain during the war, using personal and official film material, much of it seen for the first time in this format."
Margaret Cooney Big Lottery Fund Deputy Director of Policy and External Relations, England, said: "This last strand of funding will bring about a new and enhanced dimension to the way in which we view our recent history. The quality and accessibility of the new digitisation project will provide a highly effective tool for learning, both inside and out of the classroom, to help people of all ages to understand and recognise the importance of sacrifices that people made during the Second World War."
(GB)