The Challenge

As announced February 1998

Everyone in Britain will get the chance to take an active part in the millennium celebrations through The Challenge and The Festival — regional activities and events that will be exciting, involving, and leave a lasting legacy.

The aim of The Challenge is to inspire and engage the nation around the vision that the millennium is ‘Time To Make A Difference’.

Locally-based projects will bring people together to promote education, the environment, history and the arts, technology and sport.

The Challenge will meet the expectation that the Millennium Experience should reach out to every corner of Britain. Local Challenge offices have been established in the nine regions of England, and in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, each staffed by a local Partnership Manager and an Education manager, with publicity and administration support. They will encourage people to take part in local millennium activities and the 12 key projects co-ordinated by the Challenge team based at The New Millennium Experience Company’s London office.

Each key project ties into one of the 12 exhibition zones in the Dome — and the best of them will be on show at Greenwich in 2000.

The projects already announced include:

Oral History: a permanent digital database of people’s strongest memories, in partnership with The British Library and Local Radio. The largest social history project yet, with recordings made throughout the country and at The Dome.

Living on the Line: linking people and places on the from Grimsby to Ghana. An education project developed by to deepen understanding and bridge the differences between the developed and developing world.

Our Town’s Story: the history of a different town or region will be told every day in The Dome. Children, students and people of all ages will be invited to develop the story of their town using performing and visual arts and creative technology.

More projects will be announced during 1998. Together they will provide the people of the UK with opportunities:

to build a renewed sense of community
to understand, maintain and protect our environment and natural treasures
to celebrate our unique identity and unite behind a shared inheritance
to act as responsible citizens of the shrinking global village to give Britain access to the best in arts and culture
to equip themselves with the skills and training needed for the future
to become better educated, committed to lifelong learning
to lead active and fulfilling lives in leisure time
to be a healthier nation
to encourage creativity and invention
to become a more tolerant and inclusive society
to create a communicating society

Partnerships to deliver the Challenge programme are being set up with voluntary organisations churches and schools, local authorities, community groups, commercial organisations and business.

The Festival

The Millennium Festival programme has been established to carry through the Challenge to support regional and local millennium celebrations throughout the UK in the year 2000.

A wide range of community celebrations, regional events and some Challenge projects will receive help with planning and promotion through support from the New Millennium Experience Company, National Lottery Distributors and private sector sponsorship.

The Ł100 Millennium Festival fund is the result of a joint commitment by the National Lottery Distributors of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales in partnership with The New Millennium Experience Company.

The Millennium Festival will be co-ordinated by national committees in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Challenge programme events will be run alongside projects supported by the Arts Councils, Sports Councils, The Heritage Lottery Fund, the National Lottery Charities Board and the Millennium Commission. The Millennium Festival will deliver a celebration featuring and covering the whole of the UK that will be greater than the sum of its pans.

It is proposed that funding will be targeted at two levels of activity:

larger schemes, with a significant national or regional impact
fast-track Community Grants up to a maximum of Ł5,000

is where East meets West at the (0° Longitude); World Time is set . Remember the new millennium started in .

Greenwich lies on the , a few minutes by rail or tube, or a short river cruise from central London. If you want to visit Greenwich and information on visiting London, England then see . There is the famous to visit and the . Just down river is the which is close to

The at Greenwich is in along with the and the (on which the in Washington DC, USA is based). For information on astronomy visit

The starts in Greenwich Park every Spring.

Greenwich has a long heritage; it was the birth place of and his daughters (Bloody Mary) and (The Virgin Queen). All the English monarchs can be found at .

It has seen many famous visitors from through to . This and a lot more in .

For information on all the other places in the world called Greenwich including Greenwich Village, New York City, USA then visit .

Visit the Shelf where you can buy titles old and new.

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