We have been awarded £35,000 to finance our plans to spread knowledge of Alfred's life and works to people in Swindon and the surrounding area, including schoolchildren.

The centrepiece of the Society's plans is a two-day festival, to be held on November 12-13, 2010, which will feature a musical presentation, stalls, talks and other events, and there are other longer-term projects.

Part of the grant will be used to employ a part-time project co-ordinator to organise the festival (details about the vacancy are here).

We will also produce a permanent exhibit that will be used to display artefacts relating to Alfred's life and work in Swindon, as well as produce and organise educational material and events for local schoolchildren, including the setting up of an educational link with schools in northern India.

Other long-term plans include making all of Alfred's works available online, including previously unpublished works.

Chairman Dr John Cullimore said: "We are flattered that the Heritage Lottery Fund has supported us in this way, and I think it recognises that Swindon has a richer heritage and culture than it sometimes realises. Sometimes, you don't have to look as far afield as you might think to find inspiration.

"We founded the Society because we find Alfred's life and work so inspiring, yet too many local people are unaware that he even existed. If we can make them aware of his story and encourage them to read his works (which are easy to read), we think they'll soon understand why he was special.

"And he was one of us. Hopefully, they will agree that he is a true local hero for the Swindon area."

The Society would like to thank all those who have supported us so far, and look forward to working with various groups over the course of the year, and we would like to give special thanks to Dr Mike Pringle, director of the Swindon Cultural Partnership, for his help in securing the grant from the HLF.

Download the Society's official press release, issued on March 31, 2010

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