‘Peace Anniversaries’ 2015/16
2015 marks the 70th anniversary of VE Day and the 75th anniversary of the Coventry Blitz. Funded by Big Lottery (Awards for All), Peace Anniversaries continues the inter-generational and multi-cultural themes of the Peace Through Unity project by working with veterans, schools and artists to commemorate key anniversaries during 2015.
‘Peace Anniversaries’ is central to the charity’s broad aims:
– raise awareness of the impact of war and conflict at an individual and community level and , the relationship between prejudice, discrimination, hate crime and global conflicts;
– highlighting the importance of strong communities in tackling intolerance and discrimination;
– bring generations together and help veterans and refugees understand that their experiences are highly valued.
The model works like this: primary or secondary schools apply for a veteran or refugee speaker and an artist to run workshops on or around key anniversaries. The school selects a preferred art media e.g. dance, spoken word, graffiti, drama, film or ceramics. Students conduct historical research in advance and present this to other students. Speakers shares their experiences of conflict or persecution and artists lead an off-timetable workshop with groups of students, creating a representation of what they have heard as a permanent memorial to the anniversary, which is then shown to other students in the school or further afield.
The project aims to raise awareness of the impact of war and conflict at an individual and community level, the relationship between prejudice, discrimination, hate crime and global conflicts and the importance of strong communities in tackling intolerance and discrimination.