DCMS blog

Tag Archive: is_archive

The battle of Neuve Chapelle remembered

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, March 10, 2015 — First World War

The Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP was appointed as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and Minister for Equalities at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport on 9 April 2014.

In 2015 there are few reasons to stop at the French village of Neuve Chapelle. Visitors who do make it this far are usually looking for one thing – the war memorial that stands at the edge of town. Such memorials are not uncommon in this part of the world. They dot the landscape from…
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The Last Post

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, March 3, 2015 — Culture

Executive Producer, The Last Post Project http://www.superact.org.uk/thelastpost/

Musicians at Harrow School
As part of the commemorations marking the WW1 Gallipoli campaign centenary,  The Last Post project’s Executive Producer Virginia Crompton looks at how the project is marking this important milestone through education and music What’s in a name? Ҫanakkale. It’s the Turkish name for a battle which claimed the lives of tens of thousands of young men from…
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Football Remembers

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, December 9, 2014 — First World War

Executive Producer, The Last Post Project http://www.superact.org.uk/thelastpost/

“Here we were, laughing and chatting to men who only a few hours before we were trying to kill!  Some of our men even left the trench to play football.”  It’s a simple idea: take the Premier League’s existing under 12s Christmas Truce tournament as a starting point, and create a mass participation opportunity for schools to…
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A Game of Two Halves – One Hundred Years Apart

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, December 2, 2014 — First World War

Helen Grant is the Minister for Sport and Tourism

Did you see any of the game on BBC2 ? I was lucky enough to be there – one of the 45,000 or so packed into Wembley to watch England go down 0-3 to Germany. A fair result? Probably. Disappointing? Definitely. But Germany is a world-class team and they showed us what we’ll be up…
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Tackling long walks like a pro

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, September 5, 2014 — First World War

Conservative Party politician serving in the House of Lords

One question that is regularly asked when I set myself these challenges is what qualities are needed to tackle such walks? Now some way into my #walk4peace I’ve certainly had the chance to reflect on the qualities needed and thought I would share some of them with you. The first, in my opinion, is purpose.…
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Tackling the second stage of the #walk4peace

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, September 1, 2014 — First World War

Conservative Party politician serving in the House of Lords

Following an exhausting ferry journey from Portsmouth, I think I only managed to grab a few hours’ sleep; I arrived in Le Havre to kick off the second stage of my 1,000 mile journey to Berlin. Le Havre is a significant stop in my walk as it is France’s second biggest port and during WWI…
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Faith in the War Zone

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, July 14, 2014 — Culture

Helen Grant is the Minister for Sport and Tourism

WW1 trenches image
I came across an interesting and rather inspiring story the other day about a soldier in Afghanistan.  I’m all too aware, of course, that there are literally hundreds – possibly thousands – of these little personal tales coming out of conflict zones and some, I suppose, have grown in the telling to take on the…
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Thoughts on the Centenary

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, June 24, 2014 — Culture

Helen Grant is the Minister for Sport and Tourism

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It’s now only a few weeks to go before we get to 4 August, the point when – one hundred years ago, to the day – Britain entered the First World War.  It’s an auspicious moment, of course, and when it arrives I imagine there will be as many different responses as there are people…
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My family’s First World War

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, June 12, 2014 — Culture

Clare Pillman has been a director at DCMS since March 2011 and is currently Culture and Sport Director. Clare joined the civil service in 1992. Since then, she’s spent time at the Treasury and the Department for Constitutional Affairs as well as DCMS.

DCMS Culture and Sport Director Clare Pillman looks at her own family’s First World War journey from rugby internationals to serving on the front line, signifying how the sports stars of the time were called into duty. ‘I shall never play at Twickenham again’ were, reportedly the last words in public of Lt Ronald Poulton Palmer, the formidable…
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