Funding success will bring Army veterinary heritage to Melton

A new range of resources and volunteering opportunities will soon be available for the local community to use and explore at Melton Carnegie Museum, following a successful bid by Leicestershire County Council for an Armed Forces community covenant grant from the Ministry of Defence.

The grant will fund an exciting new project to bring together a range of materials relating to the Defence Animal Centre (DAC). The centre, based in Melton Mowbray, formed a community partnership with Melton Carnegie Museum in March 2013.

Project officers, supported by volunteers, will collate historic and contemporary material and information relating to the DAC and the history of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps (RAVC) in Leicestershire to create a range of learning resources for use by armed service personnel and their families, local community groups, schools and museum visitors.

Councillor Richard Blunt, the county council’s cabinet Member for heritage, said: “We’re delighted that this bid has been successful. We signed the Armed Forces Community Covenant in March last year and this project will contribute greatly to our ongoing commitment to support the armed forces and their families within our community.”

The RAVC historical collections form part of the wider Army Medical Services (AMS) collections, currently held at their museum near Aldershot, in Hampshire. The AMS museum tells the story of army medicine and healthcare, for both humans and animals, from the seventeenth century to the present day.

Working with the AMS Museum, the DAC and local associations and groups, the project will draw on archive material to form the basis of a range of learning resources which will be delivered through exhibitions, events, resource packs and web based material.

Training packages for armed service personnel based in Leicestershire and Rutland will also be created to form part of their induction programs. Members of the armed forces, ex-service personnel and their families will be invited to take part in the project by contributing their memories, experiences, objects and photographs.

The Defence Animal Centre is an integral part of the town – the site’s history dates back to the early 20th century when it provided one of five UK depots for the Army Remount Service. It has been the home of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps (RAVC) since 1946 and is now the main animal training centre for all three armed forces.