Thursday 13 November 2008

Finally our charity number is confirmed!

The Charity Commission have finally confirmed the GBHT's charity status, and we have our magic registration number which is: 1126694.

Thanks to Erica Crump and Lawrie Simanowitz at Bates Wells and Braithwaite solicitors who have worked hard over the last few months to get us this status.

Now I just need to work out how to get Gift Aid up and running and then the Just Giving site...

Tuesday 28 October 2008

Top DVD from Their Past Your Future

It has been far too long since I blogged, but I wanted to flag up a brilliant free DVD that the team at Their Past Your Future (TPYF) is sending to every primary and secondary school in November. TPYF is an education project led by a partnership of the Imperial War Museum and others, and I was pleased to have the opportunity to meet with them today to talk about the GBHT. They kindly gave me a copy of the DVD which is being sent to schools and I thought I should also provide a link to their additional learning resources here.

TPYF raised a number of issues which have given me lots to think about, and the main one is how to ensure that the Trust funds history trips which will end up giving young people a high quality educational experience rather than a jolly. As we don't intend to organise the trips ourselves, the GBHT will have to find ways of encouraging history teachers to plan trips which will get the most out of the places they are going to visit. There's a lot here that we can learn from TPYF who have run 38 trips over the past four and a half years, and one of the things I think we need to think carefully about is how teachers prepare themselves and their students for the trip and what outcomes they expect after they return.

A major issue does seem to be that many teachers do not feel adequately trained to lead history trips and TPYF have sought to remedy this by providing a learning programme called InSite. This is definitely an area which GBHT trustees need to think about for the future and it may be that as part of the funding grant we can fund training for those teachers who would benefit. Any thoughts from history teachers about what would be useful training for designing and leading history trips would be much appreciated.

Thursday 14 August 2008

The Abingdon Six cycle for the GBHT

When one of Gareth's old friends from Abingdon School days told me a group of them were thinking of cycling across Britain to raise money for the Trust I have to say I didn't think much would come of it. But ye of little faith! Last week six of them got together to cycle from Bristol to Edinburgh (five of them for the first part of the journey) and I went to wave them off on their intrepid journey. You can read their account here: http://sites.google.com/site/gbhtbikeride/ which shows just what fun it was. I will update the blog with the amount they raised when it's all in.

Monday 21 July 2008

Photos from the launch, and thank yous

A good friend of mine, Andy Barker, kindly took the pictures at the Launch of the Trust even though she had a cold. You can see them on Facebook if you follow these links:
Album 1
Album 2
Album 3
Album 4

If anyone wants to contact Andy, or have a look at the rest of her work, please go to her website.

I also wanted to thank the talented graphic artist Paul Donnellon for creating the wonderful GBHT logo. You can look at the rest of his work by clicking here.

Praise to John Schwartz too for designing the first GBHT leaflets which really captured the fun feel of the organisation. TU Ink kindly printed the leaflets and can turn around print jobs really fast. They do a lot of work with trade unions and the third sector.

I'm also really grateful to The Atrium Restaurant who gave us a discount on the venue and who tolerated the need for extra wine at the last minute! They do good food and cocktails and it's a lovely venue for all occasions.

Of course none of it would have been possible without the financial support of Apex Communications who funded the launch at the last minute. Thank you Pete and Ed.

Finally, there were so many people who helped to make the launch a success, but I'd like to give credit to our intern Stephanie Tranter, helpers on the day including Claudia Wood, Emma Carr, and Jessica Studdert. BBC help from Joanne Hilditch, Sue Brewer and Lindsay McCoy. Sophie Gunther and Richard Evans for plugging the launch to their colleagues. Anne Reyersbach, Rachael Ellis, and Suzie Butler for organising the year 11's from Bramhall High School in Stockport. And of course, a big last thanks to all the Trustees and Patrons who spread the word far and wide.

Now the really hard work of fundraising begins!

Sunday 6 July 2008

Thanks Malcolm!

Today Malcolm Clark ran the British 10K race in London in 56 mins, 35 secs - he was running for Gareth's Trust which is fab. If you're on Facebook, you can see the pics here. I will repost when Malcolm knows how much he's made, but in the meantime I'd just like to say thanks Malcolm!

Launch event YouTube film

An old friend Nic Careem kindly took this film of Ed Ball's speech at Wednesday's launch, it's a bit echoey but you can hear most of what he said.

We will have pictures taken by my friend Andy Barker soon...

Thursday 3 July 2008

Wow - what a night!

The Gareth Butler History Trust was formally launched last night at the Atrium in 4 Millbank where Gareth used to work and where we met. It was a brilliant evening with over 250 people present.

Tony Robinson spoke passionately about the importance of bringing young people face to face with their history in its original context. Could the Trust help to inspire the next generation of GM Trevelyan's, was Tristram Hunt's question, as he told the gathered audience about the need to get historians out into the field as well as young people. Ed Balls pledged his support to the aims of the Trust and said he hoped that one day support for young people outside of the classroom could be extended much further. Jim Naughtie was a wonderful master of ceremonies, and the three year 11's from Bramhall High School who came all the way from Stockport with their Head of Year Suzie Butler were just fantastic. Everyone was moved by their descriptions of visiting the battlefields last October, and by their confidence in front of so many people.

I've got to dash, and will blog more about the event tomorrow, but here is the speech I gave if you weren't able to make it there in person. I just hope Gareth would have been proud.

Jessica Asato Speech at the
Launch of the Gareth Butler History Trust

I would like to start with a number of thank yous.

First to the BBC for helping to secure the venue, providing the PA equipment and turning out to support this evening in force. In the past months I have seen why the BBC has the qualities of a family and I am proud that Gareth gave so many of his working years in its service.

Second, to Apex Communications and its Directors Pete Bowyer and Ed Owen who came to my rescue at the last minute to cover the costs of food and wine, and who provided a working space for our intern.

Third, to our intern Stephanie Tranter who has worked with dedicated enthusiasm and complete professionalism over the last two weeks. I can see why Sandhurst were sad to lose her, but their loss will be the third sector’s gain I am sure.

Fourth, can I thank all the generous friends who have donated their skills to make the launch possible: Paul Donnellon for designing what I think is a wonderful logo (my interpretation – running up the steps of a castle – what’s yours?). John Schwartz for designing the leaflet and TU Ink for printing it. And Andy Barker for the photographs – I last worked with you on our brilliant wedding day in May last year.

Fifth, to the Trustees – Gordon Marsden, Guy Lodge, Mari Williams, Selman Ansari, Dan Butler, John Parker and Greg Rosen – for signing up to the idea and plugging the event. And thanks too must go to our numerous Patrons – I am very much looking forward to working with you over the coming years.

And finally, to my Mother, Charlotte who I am so pleased made it here today, and to Gareth’s family: David, Marilyn, Dan and Ed who have put their faith in this project and provided so much solace at a terrible, heart-breaking time.


So why are we here? It is not an uncommon reaction for widowers to throw their energies into establishing a memorial to their loved one – it provides a channel for grief and an opportunity to create something positive out of a horrible situation. But I was not convinced at first that Gareth would have wanted to be remembered in a grand way - his was a quiet confidence. He was unpretentious, unshowy and didn’t seek the limelight. Neither was Gareth a massive fan of ‘good works’ – he contributed to only a few charities – he was sceptical sometimes of the ‘cottage industry’ nature of many charities and the inefficiencies found therein. So it was with some trepidation that I talked with friends about creating a long-term organisation in his memory.

But, I think I can say with some certainty that Gareth would be an enthusiastic supporter of the Gareth Butler History Trust. It touches on so many things that he cared about and which defined our lives together.

Gareth’s day job was as a political journalist, but history was his metier. He gained a First in history in Cambridge and often mused whether he should have followed his father into academia. The first book he gave me was The Asquiths – an unusual opening gambit for romance - followed by A Foreign Field by Ben Macintrye, Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks and Forgotten Voices of the Great War by Max Arthur. He particular interest was in the First World War – men from all classes and backgrounds suddenly thrown together in the extremities of existence. Sweet moments of comradeship followed by utter despair. The folly of generals and bravery of ordinary folk. The book Gareth was reading when he died was Peacemakers: the Paris Conference of 1919 by Margaret Macmillan which he was hugely enjoying for its challenge of some of the conventional theories of the Treaty of Versailles.

Gareth’s love of history permeated his relationship with Joel and Sacha his two adored children, who are here today. One game which we used to play on long car journeys was to ask Gareth any date from about 1066 to the modern day which he would follow with an interesting fact about that year or decade. From these trips we learned about the reformation, the Rennaissance, the pioneers in America, and the French Revolution, the suffragettes, the feudal system and also I remember the history of criminal punishment replete with facts about the last use of the capital sentence in this country.

Gareth also strongly cared about the lack of social mobility in Britain today and he had often talked about writing a book charting social mobility through the ages. He worried that the history teaching which had so inspired him at school wasn’t available to all children, and in particular that the curriculum forced teachers to focus on just a few periods of history rather than the sweep of events which formed our nation.

All of these characteristics led to the main idea for the Gareth Butler History Trust which will be to provide funds for disadvantaged young people in state schools to go on school history trips, initially to the Battlefields of Northern France.

School trips are in decline with the number one factor being cost, and particularly so at this time of high oil prices. Hearing from one history teacher about her struggle to find any national funds to take her year 11 history set to the Battlefields, I thought how unjust it was that the very young people who would benefit from getting out of the classroom and going to experience history at first hand were the ones who were least likely to go. Too often school trips are seen as an ‘add-on’ or something to be done if the PTA has had a good fundraising year, which means that they are not viewed as an essential part of the curriculum which should be available to all pupils rather than just those who can afford it. Given that all the research shows the huge benefits to attainment, and social and emotional development, learning outside the classroom can afford, it struck me that here was one area where our education system was compounding social exclusion rather than working to remove it.

Since setting up the Trust, I have been inundated with stories from history teachers telling of their dismay when lacking funds they have to make a choice between taking those children whose parents can afford the trip and leaving the rest behind or abandoning the project altogether. Yet there is so much potential for school trips to lead to wider things. One of our plans is to work with University History Departments to involve history students from state school backgrounds in the trips we fund to encourage young disadvantaged pupils to think about taking history at GCSE and further, opening up the notion that university might be for them. We also want to explore the possibility of taking members of veteran organisations to the battlefields along with students as a way of bringing the generations together. There is also much potential for the Trust to conduct research into the best ways of educating young people outside the classroom in history and we are very pleased to be working closely with the ‘Learning Outside the Classroom’ team at the Department for Children Schools and Families who will be launching a package of support for teachers in the Autumn. I am delighted that the Secretary of State is here to formally launch the Trust and hope that we can work together to grow the organisation over the next few years.

I am also delighted that we have three year 11’s here to talk about their experiences of going to the Battlefields of Northern France. It will be seeing the impact on young people of going to the Battlefields next year which will provide the first real sense of the merit of this charity. It was once said that those who do not understand history are condemned to repeat it. The past teaches us how we arrived at where we are today and it is therefore the grounding for knowing where we might go tomorrow. History is not just a series of lessons. It is also a vivid and extraordinary story and the more young people who can be encouraged to immerse themselves in it the better. As Katharine Anthony said: “The lovers of romance can go elsewhere for satisfaction, but where can the lovers of truth turn if not to history?”

I hope that you will do everything you can to make this a reality for hundreds of disadvantaged children in the future and join myself and the trustees of Gareth’s History Trust on a new and exciting venture. Thank you.

Friday 27 June 2008

Pat Thane and Christine Counsell join as Patrons

Our list of Patrons expands again today with two incredibly well-respected women from the history community kindly agreeing to support the Trust's aims. Christine Counsell is a Senior Lecturer at Cambridge University and the Editor of Teaching History - the Historical Association's journal for over 3,500 history teachers. She will bring much experience of having helped to develop the history curriculum and the pressures history teachers are under. Our next confirmed Patron is Professor Pat Thane, Leverhulme Professor of Contemporary British History and Director, Centre for Contemporary British History. We are really chuffed both of them have agreed to be Patrons since they are incredibly busy with lots of other organisations.

So that brings our latest list of Patrons to nine: Professor David Cannadine, Rt Hon John Hutton MP, Tony Robinson, Karen Pollock, Professor Brian Brivati, Dr Tristram Hunt, Ben Macintyre, Christine Counsell and Professor Pat Thane

More to be confirmed soon, so watch this space!

Wednesday 25 June 2008

We've signed up to the 'Learning Outside the Classroom' Manifesto

Having met with the Learning Outside the Classroom team at the DCSF yesterday, I'm pleased to sign up the GBHT to their manifesto which promotes the benefits of learning outside the classroom and will help to make sure that teachers have the resources and training to understand the benefits of taking young people out of school. I am very hopeful that Gareth's Trust will directly help to fulfill the aims of the manifesto and that in time we will also be able to provide best practice and advice to history teachers who want to take their students out of school.

It is just a week to go now until the launch of the Trust and I am delighted that we have three year 11 students from Bramhall High School in Stockport coming to tell guests about their experiences going on the Battlefields tour this year. I'm very happy with the turnout for the launch - we've been inundated with people wanting to attend and now have had to start a reserve list! I wouldn't have been able to achieve it without my brilliant intern Steph who has been working very hard to pull everything together. Lots of great candidates applied, so sorry to those of you who didn't get the position, but I hope you will still support the aims of the Trust!

So now it's just the last minute things to finalise. I've ordered a banner stand and am in the process of designing leaflets thanks to a wonderful pro bono offer from John Schwartz at Soapbox Communications Soon I'm going to have to think about writing my speech... If anyone has any good quotations illustrating the importance of understanding history please send them my way....

Tuesday 17 June 2008

Rushed off my feet...

There's just been no time to blog - I have no idea how regular bloggers do it! We're not far away from the launch of the Trust on the 2nd July and there's still so much work to do on it, but we're getting there. Tony Robinson agreed he could speak at the launch today and James Naughtie of Today Programme fame rather wonderfully said he would host the event. Now we just have to find some young people who have been on the battlefield tours to build up the nerve to tell us their experiences!

Given the sheer amount of admin I'm having to do at the moment I decided to advertise for an intern to help out and have been very pleasantly surprised by the large number of high quality applications I've received. Deciding who to pick is going to be the hard thing! Closing date is Wednesday 18th though, so if you know of someone who might be good to help, do get them to contact me! And there's still the need to find somewhere with a computer and phone...

Sometimes I feel like I'm doing two full time jobs, but I'm getting more excited about the launch now it all seems to be coming together. Right, better go and decide on the canapés...

Thursday 5 June 2008

Quiz raised £1000 for the GBHT!

Things have been so busy that I haven't blogged recently, but I wanted to celebrate our first fundraising quiz which raised £1000 and was kindly organised by the Young Fabians. Over 100 people attended and it was a pretty tough quiz organised around things that Gareth would have known a lot about, though even he wouldn't have got some of those questions! Thanks must go to Ellie Levenson and Richard Messingham for pulling it all together and to everyone who turned up and donated.

Now to turn to the organising for the big launch on the 2nd... Will post again soon.

Sunday 1 June 2008

First two Patrons confirmed - Brian Brivati and Tony Robinson

I'm delighted that Brian Brivati, Director of the John Smith Memorial Trust and former Professor of Contemporary History at Kingston University, has agreed to become a Patron of Gareth's History Trust. So too has Tony Robinson, the well-loved presenter of my favourite series - Time Team, and of course Baldrick in Blackadder.

Gareth and I would look forward to our Sundays watching Time Team, particularly if the programme had a Roman theme. There is nothing as exciting as watching the episode when the team uncovers a mosaic at the bottom of someone's garden in Cirencester. The thinking behind Time Team is similar to that behind Gareth's Trust which is to help make history more accessible to the public by bringing it alive in the here and now, rather than trying to find it only in the pages of books.

We also, along with much of the nation, loved to watch Blackadder, and Blackadder Goes Forth has one of the most poignant moments in British comedy when eventually they do go over the top - Blackadder's 'cunning plan' fails to help them as usual. Gareth was most moved by the way men of all classes were thrown together in the First World War and formed such strong bonds of loyalty during a time of such huge sacrifice. I think that pupils could watch worse things than that series of Blackadder to get a sense, albeit from a light-hearted perspective, of life in the trenches.

Sunday 25 May 2008

Tristram Hunt on school history trips in the Observer today

I very much agree with Tristram Hunt's article in the Observer today, which also flags up the fact we're setting up the Trust. He rightly raises the issue of the high costs of taking young people on school trips, particularly abroad. And I think that it's right that students should mainly visit scenes of British historical note as a way of transforming what often can be worthy teaching of the grey facts in a school classroom into colour.

One note of caution though - simply because taking young people abroad is expensive, increases carbon at a time when we need vitally need to be saving the planet, and might encourage them to learn about the history of America rather than the history of Britain, does not mean that those students from lower income backgrounds should be denied the opportunity to go abroad per se if that is what is being offered to other students who can afford it in state schools. I think the main problem with trips to New York, Barcelona or the Grand Canyon is that it reflects what parents think their children would prefer to do, rather than what would make sense educationally. It is this which needs to be tackled, rather than the trips themselves.

At our last trustees meeting we heard that even in inner city schools, many more parents somehow find the cash to fund four nights at EuroDisney rather than one night and day visiting the trenches and experiencing the sheer scale of the war memorials in Northern France. This suggests that there is more at work here than schools simply going for jollys in foreign lands - the pressure to be seen to give children a 'fun time' translates for many parents into the tried and tested formulas of novelty and glamour. Sadly, there needs to be a marked cultural shift in general for parents to understand the significance of why visiting the Great East Window at York Minster might be worth more for their child in the long-term than a trip to Alton Towers.

This raises a significant future challenge for Gareth's History Trust which is to ensure that when we fund school history trips, there is a significant support from parents for the trip, as well as pupils and teachers, otherwise the same groups of better-off children will continue to reap the benefits of our fascinating history.

Facebook page set up for Gareth's History Trust

I've set up a Facebook page for the Gareth Butler History Trust today. If you're a member of FB please do join! You can find it here: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=18107350177

May Bank Holiday weekend will always be a poignant one for me - for the last couple of years Gareth's cricket team would go on tour to Paris for the weekend. We had one particularly gorgeous venue we used to play in the grounds of a chateau outside Paris which had a fabulous little zoo. Even though we were in France, there would still be a tea urn, though cucumber sandwiches were often replaced with baguettes, Brie and paté.

Last year we played in Chantilly next to a polo ground. Friends of mine had lots of fun pointing out that Gareth had managed to convince me to combine our honeymoon road trip around the Loire Valley last year with the cricket tour. It was the most fitting end, however, to a beautiful trip. I'll always remember those sunny bank holiday weekends driving with the roof down along French country roads listening to Bruce Springsteen singing Cadillac Ranch.

Thursday 22 May 2008

Ed Balls MP to launch Gareth's Trust on July 2nd

Ed Balls, the Education Secretary, has very kindly agreed to launch the History Trust on July 2nd in Westminster. Venue and other speakers still to be confirmed but it looks like we've really got the ball rolling now! I'm hoping to get the Atrium in 4 Millbank which is the building where Gareth worked for the Politics Show. The Atrium was a regular after-work drinking venue for both of us, and in fact, was also where Gareth and I met, so there are numerous reasons why it would be a more than suitable place to hold the launch. Fingers crossed that the manager can give us a good deal, and that it's free for the evening...

I've also had a second Cabinet Minister endorse the Trust today: Hazel Blears the Communities Secretary. Hazel knows a lot about the lack of opportunities kids from poorer backgrounds face from her tireless work in local communities, and in her own Salford constituency. I'm really pleased she recognises that the Trust can play a small role in trying to open up avenues for these students in the field of history. The endorsement reads:

"I am delighted to endorse the work of the Gareth Butler History Trust. The trust's aims of giving school children from poorer backgrounds the same kinds of experiences as children from affluent backgrounds is both laudable and progressive. Children need a good grounding in our country's history, especially the history of conflict. Only by understanding the past can we navigate our collective future. I am sure the GBHT will be a fitting and living memorial to Gareth, and there will be hundreds of kids who never knew him who will have good cause to thank him." Rt. Hon. Hazel Blears MP, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.

Thanks Hazel!

Tuesday 20 May 2008

We want your money!

Quite a few people have been in touch to ask how to donate to the History Trust. At the moment we are in the process of trying to get a bank account set up, so I'm asking people who wish to donate to write cheques to me and I will transfer the money as soon as the Trust account is open. I have to say, though, that it's been an uphill struggle to get Barclays Bank to respond to my four calls to discuss opening a charity account. It's like they really, really don't want customers. I'm going to give them one last try, and then I'm looking for new options!

Once the charity is established we will set up a JustGiving page, but until then please keep sending the cheques through to me.

Monday 19 May 2008

Fundraising target set

Today has been a pretty difficult day for me, falling as it does on the first anniversary of our wedding last year, but work carries on with the charity...

Yesterday (Sunday 18th) saw the first meeting of the GBHT trustees in the Landseer Pub - a real favourite Sunday haunt of mine and Gareth's which you can find just off Holloway Road en route to Archway. I'm firmly of the opinion that good ideas rarely surface in draughty meeting rooms and are more likely to blossom after being fuelled with a good pub lunch.

We discussed many practical things from how we were going to launch the charity, to the number of Patrons, but the most ambitious thing we did was set the fundraising target. It's pretty bold, but we reckon that with a strong focus on some high value fundraising events, such as a gala dinner in the Autumn, we should be able to make £50,000 in the first year. If you've got any good ideas for raising money, or organisations who might be willing to put in some cash, do get in touch at jessica@jessicaasato.co.uk or post a comment!

Friday 16 May 2008

Trustees for GBHT announced

It's always one of the hardest things to do in an organisation - find the right mix of talented, enthusiastic and hard-working people to set the strategy at board level, but I'm pleased to say that we have a great team of people willing to act as the first Trustees of Gareth's History Trust. The list of trustees with their biographies follow. Once we have a website up and running, you will be able to get in touch with them direct. Until then you can contact trustees (and offer donations!) through me at jessica@jessicaasato.co.uk

Jessica Asato, wife of Gareth Butler, will initially Chair the Trust. She is currently Deputy Director of Progress, an organisation which organises meetings and publishes a monthly magazine to stimulate debate on the centre-left of politics. She is also Vice-Chair of a sexual health charity for young people, Brook, and Chair of Governors of Jack Taylor Special School in Camden.

Daniel Butler is a journalist and brother of Gareth.

John Parker is a writer and school friend of Gareth.

Gordon Marsden is Member of Parliament for Blackpool South and a former Editor of History Today magazine. He is Chair of the History Advisory Group for the Department for Children Schools and Families. Gordon is also a Member of the House of Commons’ Education and Skills Select Committee - helping develop policy on citizenship and young people, skills, further education, and special educational needs.

Greg Rosen is the Chair of the Labour History Group, a visiting fellow at the department of politics at Goldsmiths College, London and political columnist on the Scotsman.

Mari Williams is Head of History at a south London secondary school.

Guy Lodge is a Senior Research Fellow in constitutional reform at the Institute for Public Policy Research think tank.

Selman Ansari is a lawyer at Bates Wells Braithwaite, a well-regarded law firm which specialises in supporting charitable and not-for-profit organisations. Selman is also an Executive member of the Society of Labour Lawyers.

Thursday 15 May 2008

First endorsements!

I am delighted that the Culture Secretary, Andy Burnham, who recently announced that students should have access to at least five hours of cultural activities a week, has given his support to the GBHT:

"I am delighted to be able to support the new Gareth Butler History Trust. We know that cultural and educational activities outside the classroom can have a huge impact on a child's development and this Trust will enable all young people to take advantage of the benefits school trips can offer." Rt Hon Andy Burnham MP, Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport

Lord Andrew Adonis, Schools Under-Secretary at the Department for Children, Schools and Families, and official biographer of Roy Jenkins, has also kindly given an endorsement:

“This is an immensely worthwhile venture which I am sure would have had Gareth's passionate support. It will bring history, and the agonies of history, to life in a vivid way for young people who might not otherwise have the chance to visit great historic sites, and it will create memories and experiences for them that will remain for the rest of their lives." Lord Andrew Adonis, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Schools and Learners

If you would like to send through an endorsement, please do contact me at jessica@jessicaasato.co.uk

Wednesday 14 May 2008

The story so far

I'm setting up this blog to chart the development of the charitable trust I am setting up to carry on the memory of my husband Gareth Butler who died on February 29th 2008.

The idea for the Trust came suddenly to me in those indescribable weeks following Gareth's death when there was a strong feeling that I had to put something in motion that could carry on Gareth's tremendous interests and love for life. Initial suggestions focused on setting up an organisation to support cricket, given the inordinate amount of time Gareth spent every summer Sunday on English village cricket fields. But I felt that a) there were many cricketing organisations that do a sterling job already and b) I wanted something that united Gareth's strong intellect with his sense of fairness.

So here is the start of the Gareth Butler History Trust. Its simple aim is to help fund school history trips for lower income students in state schools. Gareth's day-job at the BBC may have focused on politics, but his passion was for history, particularly the social history of the First World War. And with two children in secondary school, Gareth was keen that all young people had access to education which brought history to life and made them think about the impact historical events have on our lives today.

The school trips budget is often one of the first to be cut when schools face a financial squeeze because trips are seen as an add on - something outside the normal curriculum which is nice if the parent-teacher's association has had a particularly active year. But we know from the Commons Education Select Committee's report on 'Education outside the classroom' that school trips have a real value in raising not just attainment levels, but also helping build pupils' social skills and self confidence. Sadly because of rising transport costs and mislaid fears about health and safety, school trips are on the decrease.

Meanwhile, there is a decline in pupils taking history at GCSE. Britain is almost alone among developed countries in that history is only compulsory up until age 14, and only a third of pupils persist with the subject after this. If they can see history “brought to life” on a school trip, pupils may be persuaded to continue studying it at GCSE stage and beyond.

Given these two facts I went looking for other organsations which might fund history trips in schools, but despite searching on the internet, various charity search engines and asking organisations such as the Historical Association, there were no dedicated funding bodies prepared to support those pupils whose parents cannot afford to pay for them to go on the trips that schools offer. It struck me that there might be a case to answer here and I asked a few history teacher friends whether they had experienced difficulties with pupils unable to afford history trips and found they were very concerned that they were faced with a choice of taking only a few better-off students on the trips, or cancelling the whole idea.

A few weeks later, and now we have our trustees lined up, a pro bono solicitor providing great support on the trust deed, and the first supporters lining up with endorsements. Our first fundraising event is a quiz - a fitting tribute to Gareth who put the fear in other quiz teams: I can't remember the number of times we walked away with one of the prizes due mostly to his encyclopedic knowledge. The event is hosted by the Young Fabians and will involve nearly 30 teams at the Bethnal Green Working Men's Club on June 4th. I think all places have now been taken.

There's a long way to go before we can make this trust really work and get those first trips off to the battlefields of Northern France (our first funding objective), but I intend to chart the ups and downs of the journey on this blog, and hopefully keep Gareth's unboundless spirit alive along the way.