The Scottish Military Research Group - Commemorations Project

David McNay · Last edited by David McNay on Wed Nov 28, 2012 9:20 am; edited 1 time in total

The recent motion of congratulations in the Scottish parliament thanked the work of the Scottish Military Research Group.

This brought about some discussion about the SMRG and how these projects fit in with it. What I would like to do here is explain our reasons for forming a society, and why that is important for the future of this project (for the purposes of this discussion I am putting the two projects together for ease of typing!)

The SMRG is an association we formed last year to administer the two online databases we run - the Scottish War Memorials Project and the Scottish War Graves Project. The reason behind that are as follows.

We have long realised that the current arrangements of free photograph hosting on a free forum are not sustainable in the long run. Both the photo hosting and the forum hosting are outwith our control, and they could disappear tomorrow with no redress for us. This was clearly unsuitable for sustaining the projects in the long term.

It was decided that the best course of action was a website and database entirely within our control. In order to properly organise the development and design of the new database/website it was necessary to organise a committee to look into the situation.

Quite simply, to do create a website/database to the level of quality we want will come down to money. Quite a bit of it, to be honest. Web design is not cheap: an "off the shelf" web design is not what is required here. For the amount of data we have, and to enable the level of searching and recording we want requires something a little more complex. Complex unfortunately = expensive.

Since no-one here is a millionaire, and lottery wins are not easy to come by, the only way to secure the funds to do the job properly is to obtain external funding.

The best way to obtain that funding is to be a charity - and the only way to be a charity is to have a properly constituted committee.

That was the reason behind forming the SMRG. Pretty much the main overriding aim of the SMRG is to seek a way to create a long-term secure footing for the information that is here.

We put off the inevitable of forming a society for some time because it was always a hobby for us; however common sense prevailed and in the end we formed ourselves into an association with a committee and we are very near to submitting our charity application form to OSCR. We feel that we currently meet all the criteria required to be a charity in Scotland so we are hoping that our application will be successful.

As for funding, we are in the early stages of some discussion which should hopefully see us achieving our aims. It's too early to go into any specifics at the moment, but please rest assured that we will let everyone know as soon as we are able to.

Finally, I would like to say thank you for all your support and for making our projects so successful. We are years ahead of any other country in publicly recording our war memorials and war graves and it is all down to our SWMP and SWGP members who have been so dedicated over the past six years.

This is a fantastic resource we have built here, and together we can make this a resource that stands head and shoulders above any other.

spoons · Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2012 10:17 pm Post subject:

Hear, hear!

Integrate War Memorials and War Graves with information about those commemorated, Significantly improve the the search facilities for all users (whether contributors or not), encourage more people to add to the data and keep it all secure for generations to come.

\Paul

dalblair · Joined: 26 Aug 2010 Posts: 564 Location: coupar angus

Well done to the Committee for recognising the dangers and acting to get the Fora on a permanent and controllable footing.
This is a great project which needs to encourage others to get involved and contribute in their area in order for us to cover the ground, prevent any more losses and provide families and communities with information which they need.
I echo Paul`s wish to see the two databases linked and searchable.
Look forward to hearing(and seeing) more and knowing how i can help to secure the future.
Best wishes
Hugh

Lindsay · Joined: 29 Sep 2012 Posts: 108

Sounds great - look forward to seeing all the work which has been done given a stable platform for the future. This is a fantastic resource which should get more recognition Smile

kinnethmont · Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 1649 Location: Aberdeenshire

Has there been any progress on the new website and the funding mentioned above?
_________________
Jim

If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

www.kinnethmont.co.uk

Adam Brown · Posted: Tue Oct 22, 2013 8:28 pm Post subject:

Jim

No, we have looked into some funding but have not had time to progress it.

Thanks

Adam

Kenneth Morrison · Posted: Wed Oct 23, 2013 5:06 pm Post subject:

Can I ask who has been tasked to look into funding? I'm sure there are members who have the time (and the inclination) to take this on-board if the committee members do not.
A recent health scare (and yes I was) has reminded me just how fragile our database of photos and information could be.
A year ago there was considerable support for the strategy of trying to protect and expand the SWMP & SWGP resource, please don't let it go to waste.
_________________
Ken

Jim · Joined: 30 May 2008 Posts: 195

Is there a way we could make small occasional donations online at low/ no cost to the group?

I looked on www.scottishmilitaryresearch.co.uk but couldn't see anything.

kinnethmont · Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 1649 Location: Aberdeenshire

Is there any news or answers to the questions of 23rd October?
_________________
Jim

If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

www.kinnethmont.co.uk

David McNay · Posted: Fri Feb 28, 2014 11:28 pm Post subject:

Discussions about funding are ongoing within the committee, but due to the nature of those discussions it's not a matter I'd be happy bringing into the public domain.

We are pursuing a number of fundraising possibilities, some of which we hope to announce soon.

If you are on the SMRG members mailing list you will be the first to hear of our plans.

With regards to the fragility of the forums, we now have stable backups so no data would be lost in the event of a system failure.