Version 11 End of grant report
End of grant report
Project details Reference number FW-16-09849
Project title Conscientious Objection Remembered: Haringey First World War Peace Forum Project
Name of your organisation Haringey First World War Peace Forum
Please complete and return this form as soon as your project has finished.
Please read the Receiving a Grant guidance first and ensure that you fill in all sections. This is your opportunity to tell us about your achievements and successes, as well as the things that didn't go as expected.
In this form we ask you to send copies of documents. There is a facility to attach files (of less than 5MB in total) at the end of the form.
Following receipt of your form, we may ask you to submit receipts or invoices relating to how your grant was spent.
Period covered by the form Start Date: 13/10/2017 End Date: 31/08/2019 Submission Date:
FW-16-09849 1 Version 11 End of grant report Completion summary Using the table below, please provide a summary of your achievements and, if applicable, set out any issues that you faced and how you responded to these.
FW-16-09849 2 Version 11 End of grant report Approved purpose Summary of achievements Creation of an interactive sculpture to be Al Johnson, a politically engaged sculptor created an interactive exhibited at Bruce Castle Museum sculpture, The Lost Files, which was exhibited at the London Borough of Haringey’s Bruce Castle Museum in Tottenham, N17 8NU, between 5 May and 23 September 2018. The sculpture is a visual and aural exploration of the 350 conscientious objectors (COs) and their families who lived in Hornsey, Tottenham and Wood Green. Visitors were able to explore, through handling facsimile documents and listening to the words of COs spoken by professional actors, what it felt like to take a courageous stand against war. The sculpture was opened by the Mayor of Haringey, Councillor Stephen Mann, and Professor Sarah Lloyd (University of Hertfordshire) who heads the Everyday Lives in War research project. As this was not a stewarded exhibition the museum was not able to gauge the number of people who visited during the weeks it was on show. Over fifty people came to the private view and forty more to a lunchtime event when Al Johnson gave an artist’s talk at the museum on 21 May. Subsequent to being exhibited at Bruce Castle, elements of the sculpture were exhibited at a Remembrance Day event at Friends House, Euston Road in November 2018. While it was at Bruce Castle, a NHL funded drama group from High Wycombe, also focusing on the conscientious objector experience, visited as part of their project development and members of the Conscientious Objection Remembered project team were able to talk them through the exhibition and its development. Other visitors included Cyril Pearce, Lois Bibbings and other Board members preparing for the Bristol Festival, ‘Commemoration, Conflict and Conscience: Hidden Stories of World War 1’, 27 to 28th April 2019. The Lost Files became a part of that NHL funded event, staying on until 20 May 2019 having been adapted for a local Bristol audience. As the project closes we are in discussion with the curator at Bruce Castle Museum about an addition we will be making to the museum’s permanent display of local WW1 history. Our contribution will include items and materials uncovered during our research.
FW-16-09849 3 Version 11 End of grant report Approved purpose Summary of achievements Commission and installation of a memorial The installation of a memorial plaque honouring Haringey’s 350 plaque to honour Haringey’s 350 COs First World War conscientious objectors was the culminating event of our project. The ceremony took place on 15th May 2019 at 18.00 outside the Salisbury public house on Green Lanes, Harringay, N4 1JX, where anti-war meetings took place in August 1914 and later. Haringey First World War Peace Forum, considered various options and contacted likely stone-masons in a process which had begun in 2015. By the time our bid to NLHF was ready we had identified a stone carver, Will O’Leary, whom we commissioned to design and create the Welsh slate plaque. There was, however, a great deal of other preparation which was going to be necessary if the plaque was to be installed in the place we had chosen. In relation to this we were greatly helped by Harringay Traders Association representing shops, restaurants and cafes in nearby Green Lanes. The chair, Shefik Mehmet, and secretary, Rob Chau, gave us continuing and enthusiastic support throughout our project, adopting the memorial as part of the Green Lanes street furniture which they look after as part of the GLA regeneration scheme. They are also taking responsibility for day to day and anniversary cleaning of the planter where the memorial is attached for a minimum period of five years. The London Borough of Haringey ensured that the area was ready in time for the installation and will ensure annual cleansing by its contractor before Remembrance Day each year along with other memorials in the Borough (see copies of Memorandums of Agreement attached to this End of Project Report). The management of the Salisbury public house helpfully provided us with access to their premises, including a power supply when this was needed. Publicity went out to as many local organisations and media outlets as possible (see Evaluation section) and through linked events which preceded the ceremony, including the borough-wide poster distribution (see below). For the day itself we organised a programme of short speeches and musical contributions. Chaired by Valerie Flessati, chair of Haringey First World War Peace Forum, an audience of around 150 people heard messages of support from the two local MPs, David Lammy and Catherine West, and historian Cyril Pearce explain why the history of conscientious objectors in the First World War is important and what the Haringey project has contributed to that history. Next, actor Jim Broadbent read the tribunal statement of Harry Phipps, a Haringey CO. He was followed by Haringey Councillors Mark Blake and Emine Ibrahim representing the Mayor and Council Leader respectively. They welcomed the installation as an important addition to the borough’s history. The plaque was then unveiled to much applause and acknowledged by Shefik Mehmet representing the traders and people of Green Lanes. Finally, actor Michael Mears, read a letter written in 1916 from another Haringey CO, Charlie Walker, describing the cruel treatment he was enduring in the army barracks. The event was opened and finally closed with pacifist songs of the period performed by musicians Patricia Hammond and Matt Redman.
FW-16-09849 4 Version 11 End of grant report Approved purpose Summary of achievements Guided walks along the Peace Trail between Two members of Haringey First World War Peace Forum Finsbury Park station & the Salisbury Hotel, already had experience of devising and leading history walks visiting 5 locations connected to conscientious locally and further afield. In addition to this, just before we objectors in Haringey received our grant and as part of the Arts and Humanities Research Council’s ‘Being Human’ event members of the group led a walk pioneering the route which was to follow our peace trail. People attracted to the theme, from a wide area of London and beyond, joined the walk. We were able to draw on all this experience when it came to creating a self-guided walk from Finsbury Park station to the Salisbury public house on Green Lanes. After the starting point the walk leads directly into Finsbury Park and the place where many anti-war meetings were held during the First World War. With seventeen locations along the two-mile route, walkers are taken past houses where some of Haringey’s COs lived, whose stories of resistance to conscription into war service had been researched by members of the group. We offered the guided walk twice, the first as part of the annual Stroud Green Festival on 16 June 2018. In conjunction with the Stroud Green Conservation Area Consultative Committee we led a group around Stroud Green locations where COs had lived. This was linked to a First World War themed musical performance devised by the Festival Organiser, featuring stories from our project. The second walk, covering the whole of the route, was led by members of the group, on 14 October 2018. Like the earlier walk, this was well attended with over twenty people who had registered through our website (numbers were limited to a manageable size) including the granddaughter of one of our COs who was able to add to her grandfather’s story. Despite rain along some of the way, we received some highly positive evaluations. All the participants were also presented with a free copy of our walk booklet (see below) featuring stories contributed from our project research. We contacted participants by email afterwards and received positive feedback, including the following comment which we feel sums up what we had aimed for in devising the walk: ‘I enjoyed the walk immensely notwithstanding the sad weather. … walking in the foot-steps of the ordinary men & women who lived a hundred years ago helped to bring the stories of local people who opposed war, to life’. Volunteers trained to lead second Peace Trail Leaders of the two walks shared the notes of their presentations walk with those who attended. Our aim was to make sure that people would feel confident to lead their own groups. However, the availability of our walk booklet, distributed freely by Haringey’s nine libraries, by Hornsey Historical Society, Bruce Castle Museum and downloadable from our website means that the walk can be undertaken independently by people who have not been on a led walk. We are aware that interest was sparked and individually organised walks followed when talks were given by members of the group. These included three presentations to local Labour Party ward events with one held in a local mosque, at the local U3A, Hornsey CND and to local history groups in Hornsey and Enfield and the annual Local History Festival at Bruce Castle Museum. The booklet also featured on several occasions at events in central London run by the NLH funded ‘Layers of London’ project. We are confident that independent walks continue to take place and will continue in the future while the booklet is freely available online through the project website and physically through local outlets.
FW-16-09849 5 Version 11 End of grant report Approved purpose Summary of achievements Creation of a Peace Trail information booklet We produced a 32 page walk booklet, written by members of the group, designed by Andy Smith+Denise Bell with a map by Leon Boothman and illustrated with thirty-three photographs of COs, sites along the route and archival material. As such, the booklet is a local history resource, including information which encourages readers to further explore themes and issues raised. We printed a thousand copies and during the project these have been available for free in Haringey locations and at project events. We have been delighted at the booklet’s reception wherever it is seen. As the project comes to a close we have fewer than fifty copies left. With funds remaining from our grant and from our own resources we will be reprinting 250 copies so that the booklet remains available in local libraries and other outlets for the next few years. Opening event, including performance of play Following a press launch outside the Salisbury pub on 1 ‘The Evil Thing’ and Q&A session December 2017 with Catherine West MP, our project opened with a performance on 22 February 2018 of the one-man play ‘This Evil Thing’. Michael Mears, writer and actor, with his inspiring and compelling delivery, held an audience of 140 people completely spellbound with more than sixty people staying on for a Q&A. His play conveys vividly and accurately, through the words of Bert Brocklesby, his fiancée Annie Wainwright, Bertrand Russell and others the dilemmas and unfairness of the tribunal system for those who, for reasons of conscience, did not want to fight. The play introduces the audience to the history of First World War conscientious objection and set the scene for the local events the project would be undertaking over the months that followed. In the lively Q&A session. Michael Mears was asked about his work as a playwright and researcher and members of Haringey First World War Peace Forum made links to Haringey’s COs, explaining the project’s wider aims. At the venue, St Augustine’s Church, N4 1BG we were hosted by the Catholic Worker Community and made a donation to their work with refugees from a collection made to cover additional expenses. Members of the audience were given facsimile field postcards to fill out to encourage them to record their reactions. Comments included: ‘Fantastic performance in a wonderful location/ added poignancy of the church’s current use. Thank you for putting on such a moving piece’; ‘Wonderful play/acting. Very very moving’; I think the work you ‘re doing here and beyond, is so important. Much appreciated’. Knowing that the play had been so well received the group decided to book a second performance on 20th March 2019 for a Tottenham audience on the east side of Haringey. We were able to fund this by viring across our budget with permission from our HLF officer. The venue was a secondary school, Park View School, N15 3QR with the play being given an enthusiastic welcome by the Mayor of Haringey, Councillor Gina Amadou. An audience of well over eighty people of varied ages and backgrounds was again gripped by the story and Michael Mears’ skills as an actor. Around twenty five stayed on for the Q&A, interested to know about his work and from members of the group about the histories of local conscientious objectors. This was to be almost the last performance of a play which had been staged 100 times to over five thousand people across the UK and beyond.
FW-16-09849 6 Version 11 End of grant report Approved purpose Summary of achievements Creation of posters detailing the names and From our research we knew that COs lived in 193 streets in addresses of the 350 COs, to be attached to Haringey and we wanted to make sure that local residents were trees/lampposts on approx. 180 streets aware if a CO, in some cases several COs, lived in their street. With the help of volunteers we created posters illustrated with photographs of eight Haringey COs, with individual names and addresses for all 193 streets. Each poster also carried advance notice of the plaque installation the following week on 15 May 2019. In such a way the posters informed people about local COs and also provided publicity for our culminating event at street level, across the borough. The posters were distributed at an afternoon tea to fifteen volunteers who were allocated streets in each of Haringey’s wards. We had positive feedback from the volunteers and members of the public including two people who came to the plaque installation the following week, each with a poster which showed that a CO had lived in their house. They were obviously delighted with this discovery. Half-day workshop for school group with sculptor With the help of a local voluntary group, Generation Exchange, Al Johnson we were invited to stage a workshop at Woodside High School, Tottenham, for a class of thirty Key Stage 8 students studying history. The event was led by a volunteer who was a former teacher together with a member of the group and supported by a teacher. The workshop involved discussion and role play of a Military Service Tribunal and as a final exercise the students did a writing home letter from a CO. The students were thoroughly engaged with the issues presented and we received very appreciative feedback from the school.Sculptor and member of the group, Al Johnson ran a workshop at Bruce Castle, assisted by one of the museum’s education officers, for a group of twenty year 5 children from Rokesley Junior School, Crouch End. The children actively participated by completing written response sheets and by producing wire models in response to the exhibition. The models were taken back to school for display and further discussion. Community arts workshop using the sculpture Al Johnson ran an evening workshop for members of a local installation as a stimulus Woodcraft Folk group, taking parts of the sculpture to a meeting held in a community centre for 15 young people aged 12 to 14 years. Feedback from the group leader was extremely positive: ‘Just wanted to say a massive thank you from our group for coming along and leading such an interesting session on conscientious objection and your work The Lost Files. We would be interested in seeing the whole installation at some point so do keep us informed about where it might be shown.’
FW-16-09849 7 Version 11 End of grant report Approved purpose Summary of achievements Research workshop for adults on how to conduct A research workshop planned for up to twelve adults was held at research using the National Archives online Marcus Garvey library in Tottenham on the afternoon of Saturday, 10 November 2018. Arrangements were made with the librarian to use a wifi enabled meeting room and for the workshop to be publicly advertised in the Haringey Libraries ‘Whats On’ bulletin during September and October. We advertised the workshop via the project website and to all known supporters directly by email. Using their own laptops participants were shown how to research the National Archives online and how to extract details from the Middlesex Military Service Appeal Tribunal, 1916-1918, for individuals from Haringey. They were then given step-by-step tasks to enable them to fill out a CO case study pro-forma. Despite our publicity only four people took part. Though the library service had guaranteed that the event would be included in their ‘What’s On’ listing it seems that this did not happen which may account for the low level of attendance. Feedback from the workshop was very positive with participants saying that they had particularly appreciated understanding the law relating to conscientious objection and the complexity of its assessment. The amount of information available from the HFWWPF website was felt to be most useful. The workshop was deemed a brilliant idea, well-structured and paced and provided an excellent opportunity, particularly useful for young people learning about conflict. As a result of the workshop one person committed themselves to join the project, volunteering to help with research and editing the records of the 350 local conscientious objectors. She has also, together with other project members, taken part in workshops run under the auspices of the University of London’s Layers of London project. These aim to involve public community groups and archives in recording lesser known histories of London. Our project’s work has contributed significantly in the development of Layers of London, featuring in their publicity, and in this way has been demonstrated to a wide and very public audience.
If applicable, please tell us about any changes you have made to the approved purposes of your project. As set out in the Receiving a Grant guidance, you must have received our approval before making any changes. Please use the table below to provide as much information as possible.
Description of Date of your Date of Effect of this change on your project, its approved change request to us reply purposes, timetable or costs
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Please tell us how your project achieved the outcomes that you selected in your application form and how you measured this. We are confident that everyone who took part in whatever way will have learned about the story of World War One conscientious objection in Haringey and will now appreciate the sacrifice which men and their families made in pursuing their commitment not to fight. We have added to local and national history, indeed Cyril Pearce, historian of WW1 conscientious objection, has singled out our project for what we have achieved. People who took part will not only have learned about heritage, many will now be able to follow up their own research with the help of prepared notes and with leads from the walk booklet. The project website will continue to exist for at least another five years and with a Creative Commons license the content and links to our research website will mean that people will have the resources and contacts to do their own research and explore what has been, up to now, an aspect of World War One history which has not been easy to access. We managed to achieve all the outcomes listed in Section 4a of our application by engaging people in the activities listed which were publicised through: press and media releases sent to local and national press; local and national history online networks and community networks and newsletters; the project website https://conscientiousobjectionremembered.wordpress.com; the project email list of 150 individual supporters largely built up during the project; word of mouth at public meetings in Haringey and beyond most of which snowballed in response to news and publicity about the project. People offered their names at every event and, following the introduction of GDPR in early 2018, we ensured that each received information about data protection. We collected responses at play performances using facsimile First World War postcards, we have received enthusiastic emails following activities, we have engaged members of the public of all ages and backgrounds in activities in streets, schools, libraries, community centres and through local media and, with the plaque, we have created a permanent memorial in a busy public place. Together, our two play performances engaged around 250 people and we estimate that the interactive sculpture will have been seen by several hundred people in the sites where it was displayed during the project. Almost all the 1000 copies of the walk booklet were distributed through Haringey’s libraries and at events we organised. We have added biographical information from members of the public about Haringey COs to our research website https://hfwwpf.wordpress.com. These have come via email and also at public events.
We did encounter some challenges. For example, we were not able to develop the social media side of publicity and engagement in the way we had hoped. The group’s five members found themselves fully stretched organising and staging all the planned events. We had hoped to recruit a volunteer who would take on responsibility for keeping the Facebook page busy and to use Twitter but this did not happen. We were also disappointed that apart from the press launch on 1 December 2017 we were not able to engage the interest of local newspapers. Despite the fact that we sent out press releases to all the local press, take up was sparse. Haringey as a borough is not well served by press which is firmly localised in areas within the borough. The central London daily newspapers,
We’re not sure what lessons we could say we learned except to say that personal contact and knowledge of local information networks for a project such as ours seems to be important. However we might have succeeded with a consistently wider demographic if we had been able to make better use of social media.
For the longer term, our website 'Conscientious Objection Remembered'
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lhttps://conscientiousobjectionremembered.wordpress.com which includes a link to a Creative Commons licence will continue to be monitored until 2024. We are currently in contact with the British Library's UK Web Archive where we hope that, in due course, our website will be archived.
FW-16-09849 10 Version 11 End of grant report Use of volunteers and non-cash contributions Did your project include any volunteer involvement or did you secure any non-cash contributions? Yes
Please tell us about all volunteer labour to the project and any non-cash contributions.
FW-16-09849 11 Version 11 End of grant report Date Description of task Task Number of Number Total value of category volunteers of days contribution (£) Dec-17 Photographs taken at project launch by local Profession 1 1 175 businessman al Feb-18 Helping at first performance of play 'This Evil Thing' Unskilled 5 3 625 May-18 Helping at opening of sculpture and private view Unskilled 2 1 50 May-19 Supply and setting up of sound system at plaque Profession 1 1 175 installation al May-18 Pilot run of CO walk on a date before publication of Skilled 2 1 150 walk booklet Jun-18 Help from members of Hornsey Historical Society in Skilled 3 1 225 sourcing photographs for walk booklet on three occasions Mar-19 Help at second performance of 'This Evil Thing' Unskilled 6 1 150 May-09 Attending distribution of posters tea party Unskilled 14 1 350 May-19 Putting up posters in 190 Haringey streets Unskilled 21 1 525 May-19 Preparing posters Skilled 4 7 4200 Dec-17 Designing project website 'Conscientious Objection Skilled 1 2 225 Remembered' May-19 Cleaning planter where plaque to be installed prior to Skilled 2 2 600 event May-19 Donating and planting flowers at site of installation Unskilled 1 12 600 and day to day upkeep Jul-18 Preparing and presenting schools and adults' Profession 2 5 3500 workshops al May-19 Artist's support for installation including power, Skilled 3 1 450 access, parking and physical labour Feb-18 Donation of venue space for first performance of Non-cash 500 play Mar-19 Talks (including preparation) given by group Skilled 11 7 11550 members during the project between January 2018 and March 2019 Apr-19 Advice sessions given by members of the group to: Profession 5 4 6125 Generation Exchange; High Wycombe group, Stroud al Green Festival organiser; Brighton University PhD student; Bristol conference between January 2018 and April 2019 May-18 Writing, researching and editing walk booklet Skilled 4 24 14400 May-19 Press, publicity and correspondence (emailing Skilled 4 22 13200 contacts) from start of project to end. Jul-19 Keeping accounts from start to end of project Skilled 1 25 3750 Sep-18 Setting up and deinstalling sculpture at Bruce Castle Skilled 2 2 600 Museum (3 May 2018 - 24 Sept 2018) Jul-19 Maintaining project website Skilled 1 10 1500 Jul-19 Record keeping throughout project (Dec 2017 - July Skilled 1 25 3750 2019 Mar-19 Technical support at 20.03.19 play performance Skilled 1 1 75 Nov-18 Accommodation for workshop session at Marcus Non-cash 40 Garvey library Nov-19 Library display of pages from Walk booklet for a Non-cash 200 month Recruitment of staff Did you recruit any staff during the life of the project? No
FW-16-09849 12 Version 11 End of grant report How the grant has been spent Give a breakdown of the items or activities funded by the grant using the same budget headings you provided within your application.
You do not need to submit any invoices with your report. However please be aware that we may ask you to provide these once you have submitted the form. It is therefore important that you keep accurate records of your spending relating to the project.
Cost heading Invoice Invoice Name of supplier Description of services or Total of Total reference date goods invoice cost claiming Undertaking BH4.1 - 15/05/2019 Will O Leary Creation and installation of £3,200 £3,200 physical works BH4.4 commemorative plaque Professional BH2.1, 22/05/2018 Al Johnson Creation and installation of £2,100 £2,100 Fees BH2.3 sculpture Professional BH3.1 22/02/2018 Michael Mears Actor in one man play £250 £250 Fees 22.02.18 performance Publicity And BH3.2 - 26/02/2018 Various Printing promotion materials £49 £49 promotion BH3.4 for 22.02.2018 play Professional BH1.1 - 08/06/2018 Smith+Bell; Design of Peace Walk booklet; £999 £999 Fees BH1.7 Boothman Design; map; images; postage various Professional BH1.8 12/07/2018 Solopress Printing walk booklet £367 £367 Fees Equipment And BH2.1, 22/05/2018 Al Johnson Fees and materials £900 £900 materials BH2.3 Professional BH5.4 14/06/2019 Generation Fee for contacting local school £100 £100 Fees Exchange Publicity And BH1.9; 28/04/2019 Various Printing promotional materials £279 £279 promotion BH2.2; for sculpture, learning BH5.1; materials, plaque installation, BH6.2 - 4. street posters; and additional play publicity Other BH2.4; 15/05/2019 Valerie Flessati, Refreshments for sculpture £420 £420 BH4.5; Jennifer Bell, launch at Bruce Castle BH5.2; Keaton Chao. Museum and plaque Bh5.3 installation; photographer and singers at plaque installation Contingency BH6.5 - 6.6 26/05/2019 Various Play sound engineer; sculpture £136 £136 installation Bristol Evaluation BH6.1 22/02/2018 Al Johnson Play evaluation cards £9 £9 Performances BH3.7 - 10/04/2019 Michael Mears; Venue Hire; professional fee; £940 £940 BH3.16 second refreshments and publicity performance 'This Evil Thing' 20.03.19 Leaflets or BH1.10 15/07/2019 Solopress Part cost of reprinting Peace £151 £151 books Walk booklet - 250 copies Totals £9,900 £9,900
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If you have spent your grant on different things from what was agreed at the start of your project, you must explain why and how this has allowed you to achieve your aims. Please also provide details of any contact you had with us to agree any changes. Vired £1000 with permission for Laptop to pay for second play performance Vired final £151 underspend to part pay for reprint of Walk Booklet (250 copies)
FW-16-09849 14 Version 11 End of grant report Evaluation and records Photographs Please send us photographs recording your project. In attaching any files or images you are agreeing that they are free of copyright constraints. Files can be attached at the end of the form. a) We have included photographs of the progress of our project b) We have included a record of activities or events that we arranged c) Material from our project is available on the internet
Website address: https://conscientiousobjectionremembered.wordpress.com
Funding Acknowledgement and Public Relations Describe how you are acknowledging National Lottery players, including all marketing, press releases and other public relations activities. Please provide information, including location, about any National Lottery Heritage Fund branding or signage and tell us if this is temporary or permanent. We publicised each event with press releases sent to local and national press and media which acknowledged National Lottery players. We also provided copy for newsletters and websites including: History Workshop Online 11.12.2018; Servas Britain Newsletter, Autumn 2018; local websites. Our published and downloadable walk booklet acknowledges Heritage Lottery as does the plaque which has permanent signage attached to a planter outside the Salisbury Hotel, Grand Parade, Green Lanes, London N4 1JX.
Evaluation If you submitted your application after January 2019, we asked you to tell us about how you would evaluate your project and advised you to create an evaluation plan at the start of your project. Based on the data you have collected throughout your project we expect you to provide a short report (maximum of 10 pages) which tells the story of what you have achieved. For more information please refer to the Evaluation: Good-practice guidance.
Have you completed your evaluation report? N/A
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