The team behind a county-wide project dedicated to commemorating the First World War were invited to the Houses of Parliament on Wednesday to showcase their work.

Herts at War was selected to represent the East of England at a prestigious event hosted by the Heritage Lottery Fund, which has been funding remembrance schemes across the country.

The project seeks to document the lives of soldiers who fought in the Great War and how it affected those back home in ‘real time’, and co-ordinator Dan Hill was able to explain the work which has gone on in front of MPs, peers and special guests such as historian Dan Snow.

Achievements so far include creating a purpose-built museum exhibition in Letchworth, a roll of honour chronicling more than 23,000 names on Hertfordshire’s war memorials and securing permission for the first ever Hertfordshire Regiment war memorial on a Belgium battlefield.

Mr Hill said: “It’s a real honour to be selected for such an event especially considering all the excellent work going on throughout the region to commemorate the Great War. Since the project started in 2012 we have grown from a small group of teachers and historians with a shared interest in Great War remembrance to a non-profit organisation with a purpose-built exhibition and a team of well over 100 volunteers.

“The goal from the start of the project has been simple – remembrance. To have the hard work of the entire Herts at War team acknowledged, particularly our fantastic volunteers, is extremely satisfying and hopefully something that those long gone, but not forgotten, county ancestors would have approved of.”