Barnsley and District U3A War Memorials Group has won a Community Group of the Year 2018 award from Barnsley Borough Council.
The award ceremony – held in front of 200 people at the towns Metrodome - recognised the U3A’s project researching the lives of the WW1 servicemen named on the Dodworth War Memorial.
The War Memorials Project hold remembrance services for each man on the 100th anniversary of their death, the group also invite any living relatives to the ceremony that they have been able to trace.
This four year research project will be completed this November.
Leader of the War Memorials Project group, Robert Green, said “We looked at our local memorial and asked ourselves ‘who were these men from our village?’ Using our research experience we have managed to bring to life the story of each serviceman and sadly, in most cases, the circumstances of their death.”
Barnsley and District U3A has over 1050 members, with nearly 100 interest groups meeting every week on a wide range of subjects. There are three family history groups with 64 members.
National U3A Trustee for Yorkshire and the Humber, Sue Stokes, said ““I am delighted Barnsley & District U3A has won this award – this is a wonderful example of detailed, high quality community based research and a project which really reflects what the U3A is all about. Many thanks to the members of the project group for all their diligent work and the rest of the Dodworth Family History group for their support.”