War Memorials are a unique part of our nation's heritage. They reflect society's response to conflict and its casualties and also contain hidden histories of individuals and communities. UKNIWM was established to bring these hidden histories to life and help preserve them so that the people they commemorate will not be forgotten.

Since the foundation of the project in 1989, information has been collected by a vast team of volunteers but it is the job of the project staff to make the archive accessible to all. In 2005, following successful fundraising we launched this website, a major breakthrough in making the data available. We are now looking to the next phase of this work and thanks to the award of a Project Planning Grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund these ideas have been formulated into a plan, Lest We Forget: The Personal Histories of our Nation's War Memorials.

There are three main elements to Lest We Forget:

Learning: A travelling exhibition will tour venues all over the UK. Content and associated activities will be tailored to each region in consultation with local people and communities. Learning materials will be developed for all ages, from school pupils to adults to specialist conservators, and backed by training sessions and an interactive website. This aspect of the project will be carried out in partnership with War Memorials Trust, a charity that works for the protection and conservation of war memorials in the UK.

Family History: To create the facility to search the UKNIWM website by a person's name as well as by memorial. We will enable users everywhere to upload their own content relating to memorials and individuals commemorated, including their own research and personal stories.

Volunteers: An ambitious volunteer development programme to provide the opportunities and skills to contribute to the UKNIWM’s digital content, to give talks and training and to support and sustain the project’s future development locally and nationally. The programme will also foster close working partnerships with local societies and groups across the country to ensure that expertise and knowledge can be shared and duplication of effort avoided.

For more information click here to download the full UKNIWM Development and Access Plan 2008-2011 [pdf 1,543KB]

Any development work of this scale needs to be funded through external sources. The total cost of this project is £826,305.We have already raised £114,249 in kind and our partner in the Learning element, War Memorials Trust, is raising £150,000. We are curently seeking £472,056 from the Heritage Lottery Fund and, if successful we will need to raise the remaining amount of £90,000 as our contribution to the project by the end of the year. If we are unsuccessful we will need to raise a lot more. Please donate to help develop this unique archive and ensure that we will not forget.