Veterans’ Weekend

We will be attending the Veterans’ Weekend at East Park with an exhibition about the Warden Service that will be on display 28-29^th July.  On Saturday 28^th only there will be pictures for sale and staff on hand to answer questions about the collection and the project.

Details for the Veterans Weekend, including a timetable of events can be found here:

http://search3.openobjects.com/kb5/hull/events/event.page?record=sCF1-LAdtaA

With the volunteer sessions now well under way BBC Radio Humberside came to the History Centre talk to us for a follow up piece on the 16^th July.  There are now over 8000 personnel cards numbered and over 1500 entries in the database.  We hope to start making this data available to the public towards Christmas.

A Hub of Activity

The volunteer sessions are now underway.  We have had 40 of our 80 volunteers come in so far and they have numbered nearly 3000 personnel cards and input over 500 of these onto our database (not yet live). 

Cloths and brushes are also out with preservation work having begun.  We have recently identified another series of records, still in their original boxes, that are prime candidates for this.



During the second volunteer session, the Hull Daily Mail paid a visit to the History Centre and produced a very positive piece about the project that can be found here:

http://www.thisishullandeastriding.co.uk/Meet-volunteers-trawling-Hull-s-Second-World-War/story-16375931-detail/story.html

Logistical Operations

The logistics of the volunteer organisation is about done and the teams have been organised.  Due to the response, there will be eight teams, two a week, operating on a monthly timetable.

Letters will be going out this week with details and dates of which group you’re in and when you will be starting.

We look forward to getting things underway after the Jubilee week.

New Find

In recognition of the anniversary of the Hull Blitz of May 1941, I have found this document issued by the Chief Warden Robert G. Tarran thanking the members of Hull’s Warden Service for their endeavours during those difficult days.

Hull Steps Forward

Despite the weather, we had an overwhelming turn out to the volunteer taster day on Tuesday 17th April.  Over 150 people came across the two sessions and we had 114 application forms filled in on the day.

I would like to say a huge thank you to the staff involved and to all the people who came to support the project.

The next step is to go through the application forms and decide how we will roll out the volunteer programme in light of this tremendous response.