Monday 3 July 2017

‘In the Footsteps’ project

The Friends of Cannock Chase, Staffordshire County Council, the New Zealand Government and the Chase Project have joined forces to commemorate the New Zealand Rifle Brigade (NZRB) on Cannock Chase during the Great War.

The ‘In the Footsteps’ project (known as Nga Tapuwae in Maori) is launching an ambitious crowd funding project (hosted by CrowdfunderUK) which hopes to raise £12,500 in just four weeks.  If successful, the project will design, commission and erect an evocative interpretation panel at the Marquis Drive Visitor Centre on Cannock Chase.  This panel will tell the story of the NZRB on Cannock Chase and remember their sacrifice during the Great War.  If successful, the panel will resemble the panel below at Messines, Belgium.


The New Zealand Government have already pledged £1,000 to the fund raising effort and so our Crowdfunding target is £11,500.  The interpretation panel will make use the iconic New Zealand ‘silver fern’ design which was developed as part of the Nga Tapuwae (In the Footsteps) trail.  This trail tells the story of New Zealand soldiers throughout the theatre of the Great War and our panel would become a permanent part of that network.  If you want to find about more about Nga Tapuwae you can visit the webpage at https://ngatapuwae.govt.nz/.

Anyone wishing to find out more about the project or who would like to make a donation can click on the link to www.crowdfunder.co.uk/in-the-footsteps.  Please do pass this page on to friends and partner groups.  We have just four weeks to raise £11,500 and to make this commemoration of Staffordshire’s historic links with New Zealand and the soldiers of the New Zealand Rifle Brigade a reality.