Nomination for the National Lottery Good Causes Award

I think we can all agree that the last 2 years have been somewhat challenging, especially mentally. The constant lockdowns, local restrictions and never-ending rules definitely took a toll on my project and me. I promised myself that 2021 would be better than the previous year but the research centres were closed, events had been postponed and Covid affected a lot of people who I wanted to connect to. I decided to treat myself to a lazy day to reset my mind frame and regain composure, when my phone rang. Obviously, this was going to be either a scam call or more depressing news.

Curiosity got the better of me and when I answered, I was greeted politely by a member of the National Lottery advising me that a community member had nomination me for the National Lottery Good Causes Award. It took me a couple of seconds for my brain to register this information as I struggled to sit upright and become alert.

This was great to hear because over the pandemic I was not sure if the Indian Women and War project would be able to continue. Yes, we had the initial funding but as we were not able to visit the archives, many of the volunteers would miss out of the essential learning. In summer 2020, National Lottery Heritage Fund awarded the project ‘emergency Covid funding’.

With this money I was able to buy essential reading material and online sessions for us all to continue the learning. The award is given out to community members or organisations that are helping create a change in the communities that they live in. The Indian women and war project is all community-based learning and ensuring that everyone is included not matter their educational backgrounds. With the pandemic closing learning facilities the emergency funding we received had helped connect to more people that did not know how Indian women had contributed to wars. It also allowed us to pay for guest speakers to share their knowledge of Indian history all online, so we were all staying safe.  

Although I did not win the main award, being nominated was enough recognition for the project and to raise awareness of what I set out to do which was to educate others of my findings and share my passion and knowledge. To know that volunteers are learning new history that once would not have been possible. The National Lottery Good Causes awarded me a medal for being a finalist. Who knows maybe next year we might win? For all those that support and volunteer with the organisation and continue with Indian Women and War project let us continue together to grow. I do thank the Lottery players and National Lottery Heritage Fund for allowing the funding and support!