The war memorial at Dulwich Common

[Dannyboy]

Artist's Rifles - originally Middlesex volunteers, then a battalion of the London Regiment (1908-1937), then a battalion of the Rifle Brigade, then Territorial SAS: details here

[htuglow]

Just to say Good Luck to you all with this - it is important - keep at it.

[macroban]

I spoke with a friend this morning whose grandfather was in the Dulwich Volunteers. I was told that their HQ was a shop in the middle of the parade that starts at 481 Lordship Lane.

[peckham_perkster]

All this information is brilliant and I have more good news to add to this, I applied for ?7,000 from the Southwark Cleaner, Greener, Safer Fund and found out at the start of last week that my bid has been successful! I have met up with the local councillor, Lewis Robinson, along with the person who runs the Reparation Scheme from the youth offending team and we will be starting work soon! I will be given the contact details of someone who deals with this fund to go through the process for how and what we can spend the money on but all being well this will happen asap and the memorial work will start very soon.

When we met we looked at what we could to improve the physical state of the memorial, work we could do around it to make it more visible and to improve the area with flowers and plants. We also thought about putting up a locked noticeboard that would have information about the memorial on there and leave space for the church to put notices in as well.

The information that people have provided is crucial to this and obviously we want to include any information we can so I will be following this up but please PM me with specfics so I can look into this as I will start the research soon.

[Louisa]

PP I am very proud of what you have been able to achieve recently and I think that the restoration of this memorial will do two great thing sat once. The kids who have had a rough time themselves will be able to use history and the memory of those forgotten souls who fought and died on the battlefield, to reflect upon their own lives and where they went wrong, and perhaps will give them a sense of achievement in knowing that they have 'ressurected' the memory of a whole generation of local people who lets face it most of us had forgotten about.

I still think the idea of a EDF reef made with real poppys presented to the memorial on the Remeberance Sunday would be a great tribute to this campaign and would help support PP's efforts in securing this grant. Any ideas? Source the reef from a local florist maybe?

[Frisco]

I think a poppy wreath would be a good idea, but not with real ones, as it wouldn't last.

I think traditional Hague Fund/RBL poppies would be better, and they last longer. Plus the cost of purchase goes to an ex-service people's charity, which, as well as remembrance, is what it's all about.

See the page in this link, and scroll down to the section headed 'fundraising': http://www.britishlegion.org.uk/contact/Contact-Us-509170.shtml#3

Well done for doing this PP.

[Ko]

peckham_perkster Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I will be given the contact details of

> someone who deals with this fund to go through the

> process for how and what we can spend the money on

> but all being well this will happen asap and the

> memorial work will start very soon.

>

Well done. If you want to contact someone about the CGS grant rather than waiting for them to contact you, you can e-mail [email protected] or call her via the council on 0207 525 5000. Andrea does a fantastic job on CGS - very committed and she's a lovely person to deal with.

[peckham_perkster]

Hello,

I think a wreath for this year would be a really good idea. If people are agreeable I think a few of us could go and lay this down and, if no one has any objections, I will see if the pastor of the church is available, he may be busy but I thought it would be good for those who have taken an interest in this project and are involved in some way to meet up. we don't have to do this on Remembrance Sunday, maybe on the Saturday or another date close to the time. The laying down of the wreath would be a way to signify the real start of the work on the project and afterwards we could always go to a pub/cafe for a drink to warm the cockles as the weather will no doubt be pretty miserable! I would never suggest the Harvester so if anyone is up for it and knows of a good pub/cafe nearby then please let me know :)

Ko: Thanks for letting me know about Andrea, some contact has been made that I shall be following up but I really appreciate your forwarding on her details.

[macroban]

A wreath is an excellent idea.

Where do I send my donation?

[Ko]

Me too. I bought some poppies at the Plough pub on Saturday. I love the idea of the wreath.

[Dannyboy]

In Sydney on conference duty at the moment (and my cockles certainly don't need warming, cos the weather here is _great_), but I will raise a glass to all of your efforts, and especially PP's, come November 11. Well done.

[peckham_perkster]

OK, I'm happy to contact the British Legion about getting a wreath from them and I could price up a seasonal wreath from a local florist with real flowers as well. I can then put the costs on the forum and see what people think.

If people want to meet for Remembrance Sunday then I would be happy to and mark the 2 minutes silence.

What do people think?

[Lewis]

I'm happy to attend on Remembrance Sunday and I'll arrange a wreath on behalf of the local Councillors

Lewis

[peckham_perkster]

I decided to move forward on this as I didn't want the good will that has been shown to be lost, we've had a very kind donation of ?20 from a collection that was made at the George Canning pub from a book sale they had there recently. I have contacted John Alan florists and ordered a wreath of red flowers and foliage which will cost ?40, I know other people have said they would like to contribute to the cost of this and so if you want to pay off any of the remaining ?20 then you can either contact me by PM to arrange something or pop into John Alan and pay something towards the cost, ask for the 'Dulwich Volunteer Wreath' order and they will then take your contribution off the bill, I'm going in next week to pay the rest off, probably on Thursday or Friday.

I will be picking up the wreath on Remembrance Sunday and will go up to the memorial to lay it down in time for the 2 minutes silence at 11.00am. If anyone wants to come and join me then feel free, afterwards if anyone fancies it we could go for a drink as mentioned before it will probably be quite cold so we may need something to warm us up. Out of courtesy I will contact the pastor at the Deeper Life church to let him know that there may be a few people up there doing this as no doubt they will have a service happening about the same time.

[WickedStepmother]

A bit belated I realise, but has anyone contacted the Horniman Museum to see if they have anything in their own records that might relevant to the building of the church?

I'm new to the forum and won't actually be living in ED till January so I'm reluctant to start muscling in on someone else's project, but I'm very happy to do this if no one else wants to? I also have an old university colleague whose thesis, if I remember rightly, involved the Artists Rifles. I'll see if we can dredge up a copy.

Oh, and I'd like to donate something towards the wreath too. (Legion poppies and real rosemary perhaps?)

[peckham_perkster]

Hi WickedStepmother (somehow I don't think you are)

Any information or leads you have would be great. One of my close friends works at the Horniman so I will ask her the best contact there in case they do have anything, you never know, I did note that the second smaller building was opened by a Mrs. Horniman and I think the family paid for that one to be built so something may exist in their records.

The wreath ordered will have red flowers and green foliage, I asked that the flowers not be roses and that they use seasonal foliage like ivy if possible, just so it looks more befitting for the occasion. The florists were really helpful and as written above any donations can be made by going into the florist and asking to pay some off or 'PM' (private message) me to arrange something. :)

[jumpinjourno]

What is the plan with the renovation...

Has a commencement date been set?

A huge pat on the back for all involved, PP, Danboy and of course Louisa way back in June.

A tribute to the success of the EDF and what the community in action is capable of...

I dip my hat on behalf of the Southwark News...

DY

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

Hi all - I paid in the book money from the George Canning today: ?33.15. With another donation, we're almost upto the ?40 mark, but the lovely owner in John Allan said he would make up the difference so thanks to him, anonymous donor and those who put into the book fund and Steve for organising it and of course to Peckham_Perkster for arranging everything.

[peckham_perkster]

I apologise in advance for the many exclamation marks you're about to see but I know writing in capitals is not the done thing on this forum...

That's amazing!!! I have to say I have been really touched by the goodwill, interest and help offered for getting the renovation work done!!

I want to reiterate the thanks as written above to everyone who donated to the wreath and I shall make sure John Allan flowers know how grateful we are for them making up the difference for this as well.

Well...that's all for now, if there are any other updates then I shall let you know.

perks

:):):)

[peckham_perkster]

Tomorrow I will be picking up the wreath and going to observe the 2 minutes silence at 11am along with a few other people. If anyone wants to join us then feel free.

[Louisa]

PP I have not been on in a while had a few personal issues, but I am on here today to wish you well and thankj you so much for pursuing this great cause over the past 4 or 5 months. I would be very happy to come along tomorrow to observe the 2 minutes silence and watch the wreath laying.

Also a big thankyou to John Allan flowers for your involvement and to everyone else on this forum.

Regards,

Louisa.

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

How did this go? I was unable to attend due to family reasons but wished I could be there.

[SimonM]

I was only able to pop by later but the wreath looked absolutely stunning (there were three in total)

[Louisa]

The wreath was beautiful... To see three wreaths at the memorial (usually just one most years) was a real treat, and it actually feels like the ED community is really making the effort to remember. I think this quiet memorial with a sense of faded glory is so much more dignified than the more grand village memorial.

[macroban]

Yes, it is good to have two "civilian wreaths" in addition to the normal one "military" one.

Well done.