Grants of £190,000 have been offered to 21 centenary memorials projects across Scotland, including the iconic Kitchener memorial in Orkney.
Grants of £190,000 have been offered in recent months to 21 projects across Scotland, including the iconic Kitchener memorial in Orkney. The awards range from £890 to clean a framed memorial in a hotel in Edinburgh, to several much larger memorials receiving up to £35,000 to carry out vital repairs and conservation work.
Communities are taking inspiration from the commemoration of the centenary of the First World War (1914 – 1918) to ensure their local war memorials are a fitting tribute to those who paid the ultimate sacrifice.
These grants bring to £528,000 the total amount offered to 67 Scottish war memorials since the scheme was launched by Former First Minister Alex Salmond in 2013. A pot of £1 million was made available for the centenary, in order for communities to repair and restore their own monuments. Communities can still apply for a share of the funds.
Frances Moreton, Director of War Memorials Trust said: “The charity is delighted at the level of interest in this scheme and the enthusiasm of people across the country to do something about the condition of their memorials. There are still plenty of funds available for the right projects so get in touch to see if we can help your local war memorial.”
“I am certain that we can maintain the current momentum to ensure that Scotland’s memorials are in the best possible condition in preparation for the centenary commemoration of the end of World War I. Also, I would like to remind everyone that grants are available to memorials commemorating any conflict – for example, recent grants have supported World War II and Waterloo memorials.”
It is believed that up to 10% of Scotland’s estimated 6,000 war memorials are in either ‘poor’ or ‘very bad’ condition, so there is clearly scope for many more projects to benefit from this grant scheme.
Centenary Memorials Restoration Fund has £1 million available to support the repair and conservation of any war memorial of any type anywhere in Scotland. The scheme was launched in April 2013 and will run through the centenary of World War I. Funded by the Scottish Government and Historic Environment Scotland the scheme is administered by War Memorials Trust.