Two groups of enthusiastic volunteers recently participated in a project briefing session at Franklin's Gardens where they learned more about the Mobbs' Own Project and discussed the roles they could play within it.
Northampton Saints Foundation are running the project, thanks to being awarded National Lottery Heritage Funding in the Spring.
The project will research the 264 men who joined Saint #281, Edgar Mobbs, to fight in the First World War. The aim is to find the relatives and record their memories whilst at the same time, sharing their stories with the wider Northampton community.
"Amazingly for so early in the project, we have found some relatives of the 264 men!"
Claire Jones, Heritage Lottery Fund project manager
Saints historian and local broadcaster Graham McKechnie spoke to the volunteers about Edgar Mobbs' life; including his time as a Saints and England player and as a soldier in the 7th Battalion Northamptonshire Regiment. Ella Bevan, one of the Trustees of the Saints Foundation, explained the work that the Foundation does and the motivation behind the Mobbs' Own project.
And then the project had its own call to arms, as Claire Jones – the Foundation’s project manager for this Heritage Lottery venture – took the volunteers through the objectives of the project and the roles they could potentially carry out.
"The great thing about this project is we have several different opportunities for the volunteers to help," she said.
"We need to conduct military and social history research, make sure we share our learning with the wider Northampton community, and collate and archive what we find.
"We have already found that our team of volunteers have all sorts of skills and many useful links to organisations within our community. And amazingly for so early in the project, we have found some relatives of the 264 men!"
If you have any insight into the 264 Mobbs' Own men or are from an organisation that would like to know more about the project, please contact [email protected].
