Apologies for cross-posing

Films from the Home Front – Website Launch

www.movinghistory.ac.uk/homefront

A new website featuring films of life on the home front in Britain during
the Second World War is launching today. 

Screen Archive South East, at the University of Brighton, in partnership
with six other English Regional Film Archives, is launching the site as part
of a £225,000 film archive project which forms part of the Big Lottery
Fund’s £10 million Their Past Your Future (TPYF) programme, and was created
with funding distributed by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council.

Over the last year all of these archives (London Screen Study Collection,
Media Archive for Central England, Northern Region Film and Television
Archive, Screen Archive South East, South West Film & Television Archive,
Wessex Film & Sound Archive, Yorkshire Film Archive) have researched and
digitised significant World War Two films from their collections for
integration into this new online historical resource. The site, ‘Films from
the Home Front’, offers free public access to these selected films, the
majority of which are being made available to the public for the very first
time.

This new lifelong learning resource is dedicated to giving people of all
ages the opportunity to discover more about the impact of the Second World
War and the immediate post-war period on everyday life. It offers a unique
perspective on the lives of ordinary people in Britain on the home front as
seen through amateur films and home movies and alongside more ‘official’
sources such as newsreels and government films.

Margaret Cooney Big Lottery Fund Deputy Director Policy and Partnerships
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."

Justin Cavernelis-Frost, MLA’s Head of Archive Development, said: "This
website connects us to our past and to our involvement in the Second World
War. The MLA is pleased to have contributed to its creation and that these
archives stand strongly alongside traditional educational resources."

The site is organised into major themes, which explore issues characterising
life during the war. These include: Children in War-time, Civil Defence,
Community Life, Displaced People, Home and Family Life, Women's Role on the
Home Front and Victory Celebrations in 1945.

They explain how the films reveal many dramatic changes that took place in
the country during this period. In addition, each of the archives has its
own section on the site highlighting how the films fit into the story of
their region during the Second World War.

Films from the Home Front is part of the wider ‘Moving History’ website
which presents other films from UK archives on all subjects and aspects of
film history across the twentieth century.

‘Films from the Home Front’ can be visited at: http://


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Notes to Editors: 

Further information/contacts:

Screen Archive South East: 01273 643213
Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 020 7211 3940

The partner archives involved in the scheme are:

London Screen Study Collection / London’s Screen Archives: the regional network 
Media Archive for Central England - 0116 252 5066
Northern Region Film and Television Archive - 0191 277 2250
Screen Archive South East - 01273 643213
South West Film & Television Archive - 01752 202650
Wessex Film & Sound Archive - 01962 847742
Yorkshire Film Archive - 01904 876550

Screen Archive South East 

Screen Archive South East is a public sector moving image archive serving
the South East of England. Established in 1992 at the University of Brighton
as the South East Film & Video Archive, the function of this regional screen
archive is to locate, collect, preserve, provide access to and promote
screen material related to the South East and of general relevance to screen
history.

MLA

The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council works with the nine regional
agencies in the MLA Partnership to improve people’s lives by building
knowledge, supporting learning, inspiring creativity and celebrating
identity. The Partnership acts collectively for the benefit of the sector
and the public, leading the transformation of museums, libraries and
archives for the future. Visit: www.mla.gov.uk. Media Enquiries: Anne Marie
Todaro, Media Relations Manager, MLA tel: 020 7273 1472. Urgent news media
enquiries until 7pm: 07747 564 209.

The Big Lottery Fund

The Big Lottery Fund rolls out close to £2 million in Lottery good cause
money every 24 hours, which together with other Lottery distributors means
that across the UK most people are within a few miles of a Lottery-funded
project. The Big Lottery Fund, the largest of the National Lottery good
cause distributors, has been rolling out grants to health, education,
environment and charitable causes across the UK since its inception in June
2004. On 1 December 2006 the Big Lottery Fund was officially established by
Parliament and at the same time assumed the residual responsibilities of the
dissolved National Lottery Charities Board (Community Fund) the New
Opportunities Fund, and the Millennium Commission. The Fund is building on
the experience and best practice of the merged bodies to simplify funding in
those areas where they overlap and to ensure Lottery funding provides the
best possible value for money. UK-wide, the Big Lottery Fund will distribute
through its new programmes and allocations funding worth over £2.6bn between
now and April 2009. Regularly updated information on the Big Lottery Fund's
new programmes is available at www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/publications.htm

Veterans Reunited / Their Past Your Future

In January 2004 the Big Lottery fund launched its Veterans Reunited
programme to provide funding to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the
events leading up to the end of the Second World War. The programme
comprised three different schemes: Heroes Return, Their Past Your Future,
and Home Front Recall. Taken together, these three schemes helped ensure
that all generations of UK residents commemorated the 60th anniversary
together, both at home and abroad. 

Their Past Your Future- £9.6 million was awarded to this UK-wide schools and
education scheme to give young people the opportunity to learn first-hand
from veterans about their experience of war. The Big Lottery Fund worked
closely with the Imperial War Museum, the museums, libraries and archives
sector UK-wide, and local education authorities to help young people learn
about the personal experiences and roles played by forces personnel and
civilians. See www.theirpast-yourfuture.org.uk for further information.