A BRADFORD gallery has been awarded almost £35,000 in lottery funding to research the role of women in World War One.

The Heritage Lottery Fund grant was made to Impressions Gallery’s New Focus group, made up of young people aged 16 to 25.

The group will use the £34,500 to visit historical archives in Bradford’s Peace Museum, the Imperial War Museum in London and Leeds University, studying rarely seen artefacts and records and eventually producing a book about women’s role in the war that will be used in schools.

There will be a particular focus on female photographers, who broke gender stereotypes to capture the war on film.

The project will end in October, when the City Park gallery hosts an exhibition called No Man’s Land, which will highlight women’s photography from the front lines of the Great War.

The lottery’s Young Roots scheme was set up to fund projects that attract more young people to history.

Jennifer Sobol, Impressions’ learning and audience development coordinator, said: “We’re thrilled that New Focus have received the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund, and are confident the project will both support young people to develop creative skills and to gain a better understanding of women’s participation in the First World War.”

Liz Robertson, programme officer for the First World War Centenary Partnership, said: “New Focus will be making a critical contribution to the global First World War centenary programme.

“This international programme of events and activities brings together nations, communities and individuals from across the world, to mark, commemorate and remember the lives of those who lived, fought and died during the First World War.”

The project will look at women including Olive Edis, the first British woman to work as a war photographer, as well as Elsie Knocker and Mairi Chisholm, who worked as front line nurses.

The group was at the Peace Museum yesterday looking at literature from the time.

New Focus member James Barlow said: “We’re looking at how these people shaped perceptions of the role of women, and the true role of female photographers in World War One.”

Gaurav Bhardwaj, another member, said, “I am very excited to work on the project. I think that there are many stories and photographs of what women were doing during the war which people should know about and appreciate.”

Pippa Oldfield, who is curating the exhibition, said: “It is all about finding stories that are relevant to them and other young people.

“It is also helping to demystify the idea of archives.

“When they are all done they will be producing this publication that will be by and for young people.”

The finished publication will be distributed to school, as well as libraries, and the No Man’s Land exhibition will likely tour other galleries after the exhibition at Impressions ends in December.

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