FAQs

‘Lest We Forget’ was a project that aimed to empower local communities to organise and run 'Digital Collection Days'. The idea was that members of the community could bring their First World War-related material to a public event so that it could be 'digitised' (photographed). The digitised material was then uploaded to our online archive for everyone else to see and share.

Because every day the objects (letters, photos, memoirs, diaries, souvenirs, etc) of the men, women, and children who were part of the 1914-1918 generation are being lost. This project not only attempted to save these items digitally, but also the stories attached to them.

Although the project is has now ended, you can download the training pack that others used as a guide to run their own Digital Collection Day. The training pack offers precise instructions about the type of venue you should use, how many volunteers you might need, what their roles and responsibilities could be, and how to digitize the material and upload it to our archive. You can download the training pack on our 'Volunteer' page.

Unfortunately, no more training events are planned for the 'Lest We Forget' project.

The contents of the archive were made freely accessible on 11th November 2018 to complement projects and events commemorating the centenary of the end of the war. The contents of the archive can be accessed here and on Europeana 1914-1918, bringing these stories and experiences from the past to researchers and educators today.

No. We were purely interested in collecting digital photographs of the objects and any accompanying stories. We did not retain the physical items, but we are happy to advise on appropriate museums to contact.