The brief

Wellington Remembers came to J&PR because they wanted us to help build momentum towards the completion of their project, spread the word about what they were doing and appeal for information to fill in the last few gaps they had in their research.

The group of volunteers had spent hours looking into the stories behind names written on the Lych Gate at All Saints Church in Wellington, Telford. They were publishing a book about the life of each soldier named and wanted to find their ancestors to help commemorate the anniversary of the end of World War One in 2019.

The solution

We started with some press stories about how far this group had come and how close they were to completion. We then contacted radio stations, magazines and online publications with specific appeals of the soldiers that the group knew little about and asked people to get in contact if they had information.

In the run up to remembrance day that year, we then provided the media with weekly case studies of soldiers who were to be remembered in the book. This all built the momentum desired and near the launch we arranged for BBC television to visit the gate and speak to members and ancestors about everything they had achieved.

The impact

Due to the schedule of monthly, then weekly stories about this project, the group achieved exactly what they wanted. They were able to collect more information and pictures of the soldiers they were researching before the publishing deadline for their book. They also had many people contact them saying they had heard about what they were doing.

In the week running up to Remembrance Day the group had hundreds of people visit an exhibition they were putting on displaying their findings. And on the day itself, Wellington celebrated the biggest remembrance event of recent years, with local media following every moment with the help of the group’s research.

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