Press

This page provides details of how to contact War Memorials Trust with press enquiries, access to War Memorials Trust news releases and details of national press coverage previously received by War Memorials Trust.

Press Enquiries

War Memorials Trust staff are delighted to answer questions, undertake interviews and assist the pess in relation to articles and stories on war memorial issues. Should you wish to speak to a member of staff please contact War Memorials Trust office on 020 7259 0403/020 7881 082 or email info@warmemorials.org

FAQ's

The answers to many questions we frequently get contacted about can be found in the Helping You section of the website including the definition of a war memorial, the importance of war memorials and the law in relation to war memorials.

News Releases

Please find below links to the latest War Memorials Trust News Releases:

 

Press Coverage

The Times 21 July 2003: Complimentary of Friends of War Memorials Newsletter

"Friends of War Memorials deserve an award for the liveliest newsletter of any voluntary organisation, packed with stories of memorials snatched from oblivion."

The Daily Telegraph 4 July 2002: Editorial and Commentary of War Memorials

Editorial:

Unfitting Memorials

Rupert Brookes would have found it rich that, while British soldiers buried in some corner of a foreign field ended up in well-tended billets, the memorials raised in their name are rotting away. For 85 years, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, funded by Commonwealth governments, has been doing excellent work, keeping the tombstones of our war dead gleaming. But there is no similar government-funded body to protect war memorials.

And so the charity Friends of War Memorials, founded as recently as 1995, is left to look after the 60,000 memorial across Britain and the world. The demands on the charity are enormous and its current funds minimal. But even a small donation is enough to touch up the fading lettering on a weather-worn stone memorial or restore long-neglected plaques - one, recently plucked from a bonfire at Wentworth Castle, Yorkshire, will be returned to immaculate order for a few hundred pounds. Donations can be sent to Friends of War Memorials 4 Lower Belgrave Street London SW1W 0LA.

 

Article:

Appeal for funds to save war memorials by David Graves

A new appeal for funds has been launched by a charity set up to preserve the 60,000 war memorials in Britain and overseas.

To add to the enormity of the challenge facing Friends of War MEmorials, the charity set up in 1995, it has now taken on the task of preserving foreign memorials dedicated to Britain's war dead.

Algy Cuff, the businessman who has become the charity's chairman, has renewed its appeal for public and corporate funds becaise it receives no support from Government or military charities.

"The problem is that many memorials are not the direct responsiblity of any particular organisation or body," he said. "They were built by public subscription and have, over the years, become severely neglected."

Recently, Mr Cluff managed to obtain a £50,000 contribution froma Sainsbury family trust but said many more similar corporate donations were required.

A memorial in Syria, dedicated to the last battle fought against Turkish forces in the Middle East on Oct 26, 1918, is being restored, as well as memorials in St. Helena, Norway, Malaysia and Zimbabwe.

English Heritage, which gives £100,000 a year for the repair of listed memorials in conservation areas, has described the memorials as "a spectacular legacy of 20th century art and sculpture; the greatest ever public art commission this country and any other country has ever seen".

Only 1,409 memorials in Britain are protected, 114 are them grade I and 183 grade II*, some of which are in poor condition or at risk.

The memorials commemorate more than one million British servicemen and women who died in the First World War and 550,000 who lost their lives in the Second World War.

They range from obelisks, arches, statues and crosses to chapels, halls and plaques, and they are the traditional focus for gatherings both on Armistace Day and on Remembrance Sunday.

Donations to: Friends of War Memorials, 4 Lower Belgrave Street London SW1W 0LA