Organisation: VPC 

Number of cadets: 70 (across 2 units) with Social Action team of 12-20 cadets  

Theme: Part 1 Heritage at risk of damage Part 2 at risk of being forgotten. 

Delivery: In-person 

Two units of Blackpool & Fylde Police Cadets undertook the War Memorial social action training. The units were challenged to complete individual research into local memorials and remembrance, in preparation for their attendance at the annual Remembrance Day parade in 2021.  

During this time, a local arboretum memorial garden was vandalised and reported by the local media. The cadets responded by helping to sell poppies to fundraise for the garden. They also sent a team to meet with the garden’s caretaker, to review the damage and learn about the history of those remembered.  

The cadets offered to help restore the memorial garden site as their social action project. They were invited to plan and create a new memorial. They consulted with local people and schools about who should be remembered. They researched and designed a memorial to police officers who lost their lives on duty on the Fylde coast. They used their microgrant to buy materials and tools to make this possible.

The cadets worked hard on the memorial stone and plaque project over a number of years, creating new partnerships and relationships with the community. A stone and memorial bench were formally opened in March 2024 by the Chief Constable, and attended by the Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire, as well as mayors of Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre and other dignitaries. The cadets will continue to work on planting and maintenance of the site as their community project.

Good practice: This was a short-term project leading to a longer-term goal, developed in partnership with the local community. Sharing the memorial with the public and launching it with a high-profile community event ensured a fitting celebration of the initiative and efforts of the young people. 

CASE STUDY

Volunteer Police Cadets, Stockport Unit, Greater Manchester

Organisation: VPC 

Number of cadets: 12 

Theme: War memorials

Delivery: Online, with individual in-person social action

During 2020-21 the Volunteer Police Cadets, which empowers its young volunteer cadets to lead on social action projects, worked on 'The Heritage Challenge 2020-21', an initiative looking at heritage and preventing heritage crime.

This was an example of a war memorial-themed project in 2020-21, an innovation arising due to covid. Cadets traditionally march with other uniformed organisations past their local memorial on Remembrance Sunday. In 2020, these events were cancelled. The project invited units to undertake online social action projects, which might include individual visits to local war memorials (allowed under covid restrictions). Cadets were invited to choose from three social action projects identified using the War Memorial Trust online tools and materials for youth organisations.  

This was the first time VPC had made use of the War Memorials Trust materials. Individual cadets could undertake site visits, take photos and upload these and condition reports to the website. They could even design a war memorial for those without one.  

The Stockport unit worked as a team to research numerous local and un-registered war memorials. They found and created 18 new entries, uploaded first time photos on a further 10, and updated condition reports to others on the War Memorial Trust website. The project awarded them an excellence certificate.  

Their final Powerpoint presentation is available as a resource and was reshared in 2021 to inspire a second round of projects. Their case study now appears on the War Memorial Trust website, and a copy of their Power-point presentation to Cadets and stakeholders is linked in the training materials. 

Volunteer Police Cadets, Stockport Unit, Greater Manchester Police | War Memorials Trust (learnaboutwarmemorials.org) 

The unit reported that “it gave us a focus and a reason to get outside, go for some exercise; a walk, a run, a bike ride, to enjoy the fresh air and to find points of interest on our doorstep which we’ve seen but not properly taken notice of. It was something we did as a team and helped pull us together.” This demonstrates the mental health benefits of heritage projects, which can get people engaged and active outdoors. 

The unit also highlighted that they got involved because they cared about their war memorials' heritage. “We could not take part in the Remembrance Day parade this year, so this is a good way for us to continue to play our part and enable us to keep remembering people who served their country.”

Too often there is an assumption that young people are not aware of their war memorials. Programmes like this are vital to demonstrate that this is not the case. Engaging young people and supporting them to discover more about their heritage ensures tomorrow’s custodians are equipped to protect and conserve heritage in the years ahead.

Good practice: using a national heritage partner’s open access resources to deliver and inspire other cadet units around the country to adopt the theme. 

CASE STUDY

Organisation: VPC 

Number of cadets: 35 

Theme: Environment preservation, research, fundraising 

Delivery: In-person 

This group of cadets designed their project around a historic church, because their unit met in a heritage-listed community centre, which shared grounds with the church. The paths and graveyard were overgrown and were part of a regular route to another public space, where antisocial behaviour took place. There was evidence of graffiti.  

The unit organised into teams, to clear up the church grounds and research the history of the church. Working closely with local church leaders and the council, the cadets organised a community open day on a heritage remembrance theme, with fundraising stalls, such as one selling daffodils to be replanted in the grounds. They raised money towards a defibrillator for the community centre.  

The open day was attended by local MP and ACC Rachel Nolan, the NPCC lead on Heritage Crime. Every cadet played a role in this youth-led initiative. 

The unit also offered to tidy up the neighbouring Holocaust Garden, which prompted its owners to refresh it. 

Good practice: The unit set up several focused, youth-led teams: research, work-party, open day, stalls. They reached out to involve the local community with an open day which raised awareness about their project, whilst also raising money for a good cause. The project had good support from local partners and officials. 

CASE STUDY

Organisation: VPC 

Location: Dover, Kent

Number of cadets: 35 

Theme: Environment preservation and protection, fundraising 

Delivery: In-person 

The unit had the first Heritage Cadet Team in England, where cadets work as volunteers with local preservation organisations to maintain and protect coastline heritage sites (e.g. Dover Bastion and Capel Battery).  

The cadets decided to visit sites to complete condition and crime prevention assessment report walks (pictured), whilst preparing for a Heritage Challenge Marathon. The aim of the sponsored marathon was to raise money for a piece of equipment for the NHS, in memory of a former staff member and unit leader.  

Good practice: Dual purpose activity – combining their visits to heritage sites with preparation for a fundraising marathon between heritage sites on the Kent coast. The practice walks were in effect “heritage patrols" that checked the condition of local monuments and sites, whilst getting ready to raise awareness and funds for a good cause.   

Torquay Museum

This case study explores how the museum built on their experience of a previous Takeover Day to create more meaningful experiences for participants, which included their Young Archaeology Club members and a local Brownies group.

Why take part?

Previously, the museum worked with the Young Archaeology Club (YAC). The experience of working with the YAC on a small-scale event inspired museum staff to aim for more meaningful and empowering outcomes this year.

Who took part?

Ten members of theYAC group who were joined by twelve Brownies from a local unit.The children were aged 7-14.

What did they do?

Children took over a variety of roles throughout the museum, from meeting VIP guests to selling tickets in the shop.

The Learning Officer visited the two groups in advance to ask them what they would like to do on Takeover Day. The Learning Officer supported their ideas with input on the operations of the museum.The children came up with job titles for themselves and descriptions of what they thought their role should do.

A weekend pre-visit was arranged and those children who were able to visit explored the museum. Children annotated ‘We’re Taking Over’ posters and displayed them in their schools. They also sent out postcards to encourage family and friends to come along.

How did they spend their time on the day?

Key to the experience was letting the children decide which roles they wanted to take over. Some children stayed in the same role whilst others rotated. Brownies took over for the morning and YAC members all day.

Roles included:

• Working with the curatorial team to identify and catalogue objects

• Acting as VIP hosts, meeting and greeting the guest speaker and local MP who were visiting, giving them refreshments

• Selling tickets and shop merchandise to visitors

• Giving guided tours to visitors

• Generating ideas for improving the museum floor plan

  Torbay’s MP presented certificates to the children at the end of the event and families were invited to come along andinteract throughout the day.

  What happened next?

  One Brownie came back to visit with her school; after recognising the Learning Officer, the girl invited her to be a guest of honour at an assembly to celebrate their work from the trip.This led to further conversations with the school and a subsequentTakeover Day being organised.

  The experience of taking over has inspired members of the YAC to volunteer to run guided tours, object handling and craft activities at another community event organised by the museum.

  Feedback collected by the children has been useful in improving the visitor experience at the museum.Their ideas from reviewing the current floor plan are being incorporated into the development of a family-friendly museum map.

Heritage Schools Case Study: Building the London Central Mosque

KS2 pupils used the John Laing Photographic Collection and an oral history approach to learn more about a significant place of worship.

Where: Gateway Academy, London and London Central Mosque and Islamic Cultural Centre

Who: Year 6 students

Click here to read the full case study on Historic England's website.

Intended outcomes

• Pupils to understand what a photographic archive is & how it can be used as a source of primary evidence
• Pupils to devise historically-valid questions to build an oral history based on London Central Mosque
• Pupils to develop greater knowledge about a familiar building and gain understanding of how important aspect of their local heritage relates to the national story
• Pupils develop a sense of pride in where they live

What we did

• Pupils studied images from the John Laing Photographic Collection and thought about “What makes a photo historical? What do you know/can you infer from a photograph?” Using these images, pupils learned about Laing’s importance in major building projects, across Britain, after 1945.
• Pupils studied images of the London Central Mosque under construction. They were asked to select just three images from the collection and explain their choices, using the same method Historic England had used to select images for the website.
• Pupils were asked to imagine interviewing someone that built the London Central Mosque and what would be interesting/ relevant / open questions? Pupils worked in small groups to prepare questions.
• Pupils interviewed former Laing employees: Thomas Lai, John McGuiness and Roger Bridgeman.
• Pupils and Laing employees went to visit the London Central Mosque where we were greeted by the Director of the Mosque and told a short history of the building and its context as a place of worship.
• Pupils were given a chance to explore the building further and some created their own artistic responses by sketching, taking photographs or using water colour pencils to colour archive images. 

Heritage Schools Case Study: What makes a housing estate special?

Summary: KS2 students used a social-history photographic collection to learn more about their local heritage. They also undertook an oral history project.

Where: Goddard Park School, Swindon

Who: Year 4 students

Click here to read the full case study on Historic England's website.

Intended Outcomes

• Children develop a sense of pride in where they live
• Children understand their local heritage and how it relates to a national story
• Children understand what a photographic archive is & how it could be used
• Children use primary sources of evidence
• Children devise historically valid questions (oral history)
• Children select and organise relevant historical information
• Children explore changes in post-war Britain
• Children look at their own identity within a local case study

What we did

• Children investigated historical photographs and thought about “Why are photos a good historical source? What do you know/can you infer from a photograph?”
• Children looked at photographs of houses from their estate and found out more about the company, John Laing plc., that built them. Including watching a film about how they were built.
• Children were asked them to imagine you could interview someone that built these houses. What would you ask them? And how do we ask good questions?
• Children interviewed former Laing employees. Their questions included: “was it tiring?” “what did you do for shelter when it rained?” “what was your favourite thing you built?” “did you ever want to quit?”
• Children and the Laing employees went to see the Easiform houses from the archive photos, so they could compare the past with the present. Many were able to engage in a more informal way with the former Laing employees as we walked and talked. They also got to see the houses they may live in/walk past every day in a new way, through a historical lens.
• We produced a short film showing their day.

Case Study: Historic England Heritage Schools - Doing a War Memorial Condition Survey

This short film demonstrates how primary school pupils in Rochdale carried out a condition survey on their local war memorial as part of a WW1 study. They uploaded their report to the War Memorial Trust's website, so the charity have up-to-date information on the memorial's condition, and they can help to care for it for future generations to learn from.

Click on the image or here to watch the video on Vimeo. 

You can read more about doing a condition survey with your group on Historic England's website here.

Ignite Yorkshire – The new industrial revolution starts here - Yorkshire 

Ignite Yorkshire, led by We Are IVE and developed with partners, worked with young people to take inspiration from the industrial past to develop new skills for the future. It aimed to start a revolution in how Yorkshire’s industrial heritage is viewed, understood, enjoyed and looked after by young people.

Curious Minds | Hope Streets - North West England  

Hope Streets took young people on an expedition into the past, to delve into the hidden history of their local Hope Street. It provided a platform for young people from diverse backgrounds to work with heritage organisations, artists and experts to interrogate, agitate and 're-present' their local heritage to produce Festivals of Hope.  

Shout Out Loud, English Heritage - England 

Young people worked on a diverse and exciting range of activities to discover and share the hidden stories of their local communities and English Heritage sites. This grew into ongoing embedded youth-led programmes across the organisation, with a range of case studies and learning resources. 

Have a look at their website for more information on the activities and projects themselves, including some wonderful photos and videos of the resulting work.

Don't Settle, Beatfreeks - Birmingham and the Black Country 

Don’t Settle Programmes empower young People of Colour to change the voice of heritage through the arts, research, and governance. They challenge the heritage and cultural sector to represent a more equitable, shared future, through art and curation.  

Keeping it Wild | London Wildlife Trust - London 
This project empowered and inspired young people from backgrounds currently under-represented in natural heritage, to gain vital skills while discovering, conserving and sharing their experiences of the capital’s wild spaces. A final presentation of their work (February 2024) is available on request. 

Kick the Dust: Future Proof Parks - Groundwork UK - England 

Future Proof Parks focused on historic parks and heritage landscapes in five ‘hub’ locations across England. Between 2018 and 2021 the programme: engaged young people to learn about their local historic park heritage; helped young people join their local ‘friends of’ park groups and volunteer to preserve their local community green spaces. Groundwork UK partnered with Fields in Trust and National Youth Agency. 

Kick the Dust - Norfolk Museums - Norfolk 

A youth-focused project run in partnership by Norfolk Museums Service, YMCA Norfolk, Creative Collisions and Norfolk Library & Information Service. It took young people on a journey of taster session to exploring, shaping and leading activities such as co-curating an exhibition and co-delivering an event.  

Y Heritage, Leicester YMCA  - East Midlands and East of England  
Y Heritage put young people at the centre of commissioning and participating in local heritage projects. Young people received training to participate in Dragon’s Den style funding rounds, awarding a total of £258,805 between 15 local projects all together. 

Heritage projects have been brought to life and young people enjoyed rich work experience opportunities. Heritage organisations learnt how to engage with vulnerable young people.