Arundel Red Cross Hospital

Heritage Lottery Fund awards £9,500 to Arundel Red Cross Hospital Project to mark First World War Centenary
Arundel’s award-winning Museum has received £9,500 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for a project entitled ‘Casualties, Convalescence, Community’. Awarded through HLF’s First World War: then and now programme, the project will focus on the impact on Arundel and local communities of a First World War Red Cross Hospital in the town.
To mark the Centenary of the First World War, the project will enable local people to come together to preserve the memories and heritage of the people who lived in the Arundel area during the First World War.
Volunteers, including pupils from the two Arundel Schools, will collect photographs, newspaper clippings, documents, letters and photos, as well as family tales passed down, to help them build a clear picture of how local people got involved with the daily work and management of the hospital and how they supported it through fundraising and entertaining the convalescent servicemen.
Started by the Duchess of Norfolk and supported by local people, the WW1 Red Cross Hospital will provide a unique insight into how a small community, already under stress, pulled together and supported the war effort.
The story of the wartime hospital will be told at events, exhibitions, in articles and a booklet, and the information gathered will be digitally recorded and made freely available on the Arundel Museum website.
Commenting on the award, Arundel Museum manager, Ernestos Karydis said: “We are thrilled to have received the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund for this project. The Red Cross Hospital was an important part of life in Arundel during the First World War, it will be fascinating to discover the impact it had on the community and how local people interacted with the convalescent servicemen”.

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