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Phyllis Nicklin Blue Plaque Application

Good idea. But of course I don't want to detract from the regular BHF meet ups which raise funds to support this Forum. This work won't be possible without the Forum. So perhaps, as Froth's suggested, we put extra meet ups into our plans (and include it in our response back to BCS) but include it only as part of other funndraising ideas such as approaching those named in post #39. As Robert says, we have time if we're aiming for 2019 so if we struggle to get supporters we can add extra meetings - and if everyone is in favour. Also, we need to know what the Birmingham Uni response will be so that we're clear about what we need to do. It's very helpful mulling this over with you and thanks to all for your support and good ideas. When I get my head fully around all this, I'll draw up a reply to BCS - I'll post a draft here. So far I've sent this holding reply:


"Thank you for your reply Emma. That's very welcome news. I'll send a fuller reply to you on the points you've raised once I've consulted BHF members re. funding and proposed date. Obviously I'd also like to register our interest in the response to you from Birmingham University.


I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Many thanks for this opportunity to recognise the work of Phyllis Nicklin".

Viv
 
Viv

What about approaching some of the people and organisations who have made loads of money out of photographers like Phyllis over the years such as Brewin Books, Amberley Publishing and even Alton Douglas. Perhaps you might inveigle one of them into publishing a small book of his works with a portion of the profits going toward the plaque and the rest to his estate. Of course any copyright issues would have to be sorted first.
 
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That's a thought Phil. Do we have any experts out there who could advise on copyright?
A few immediate thoughts:
Although these photos now sit on BHF, where do we stand regarding the use of Keith's work since the pages where his images were originally posted are no longer available (I.e. no longer voluntarily funded) ?
do we need to consult his family?
who owns the images?
any info about the images that might throw light on possible future use?
is there anyone who'd be prepared to pursue this? (I can see a point where I personally won't have enough time to do everything on this. The Berry photo idea looks to me like a sizeable project on its own)

viv
 
Won't do any harm Phil, though am not sure if Amberley will be very helpful. All their local history books seem to be on their website at "special" prices, which is about 60%. guess they may be in trouble.
 
Sorry Viv

I'm getting my photographers mixed up, I of course meant Phyllis and not Keith as I said in my post. I will edit it now.
 
Viv

I'm sorry I can't be of any help at all concerning copyright issues because to be completely honest I don't understand all the different nuances myself. Also I can be of no help on Phyllis's estate or family, but whoever it was who was who handled the exhibition should be able to help there. Perhaps Lyn might be able to help there.

Touching on Keith Berry's work, I can foresee similar problems there. Perhaps you need to find out what you can before proceeding further. I think you certainly need to get Jim's thoughts before you continue (if you haven't already).
 
Think David Oram - Brumpic site co-founder - could advise I suspect. He uncovered the more recent Nicklin images at the University. So he needs to be on our list of people to liaise with etc. Viv.
 
Just so that we can keep tabs on suggestions/ideas to pursue etc, here's a summary of possible actions.This list also helps to get a feel for the size of this job to get Phyllis's plaque funding


look through the photos and see if there are any businesses featured that are still trading today and approach the businesses
approach any businesses whose address featured in the photos
approach any organisations whose address featured in the photos
approach Birmingham City Council, they have a small budget for groups.
find out if Birmingham history webring is still in operation
approach other Birmingham history groups
approach local newspapers, particularly Birmingham Post and Birmingham Mail as they featured her images
approach owners of the potential plaque site
contact David Oram (Brumpic) for views on conditions of use of photos and ownership etc
consider viability of publishing photos
await response from Birmingham Civic Society re. Birmingham Uni involvement, liaise with Uni
plan for some additional BHF meet-ups to largely fund/or supplement the cost of the plaque


So potentially a lot to do ! The big unknown of course is how much of a role will Birmingham Uni have and whether they will make a contribution. As I always say, one step at a time. Viv.
 
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Just so that we can keep tabs on suggestions/ideas to pursue etc, here's a summary of possible actions.This list also helps to get a feel for the size of this job to get Phyllis's plaque funding


look through the photos and see if there are any businesses featured that are still trading today and approach the businesses
approach any businesses whose address featured in the photos
approach any organisations whose address featured in the photos
approach Birmingham City Council, they have a small budget for groups.
find out if Birmingham history webring is still in operation
approach other Birmingham history groups
approach local newspapers, particularly Birmingham Post and Birmingham Mail as they featured her images
approach owners of the potential plaque site
contact David Oram (Brumpic) for views on conditions of use of photos and ownership etc
consider viability of publishing photos
await response from Birmingham Civic Society re. Birmingham Uni involvement, liaise with Uni
plan for some additional BHF meet-ups to largely fund/or supplement the cost of the plaque


So potentially a lot to do ! The big unknown of course is how much of a role will Birmingham Uni have and whether they will make a contribution. As I always say, one step at a time. Viv.

You could always get our member signman to knock one up. (I'm joking, before someone starts telling me we can't do that.)
 
Phil, all the more reason to be closely involved with B'ham Uni then. Froth - if only !

I need to add the B'ham Geographical Association to our list of possible contacts where Phyllis had much input, and maybe other Geog Assocns. Hoping to get a response off to the Civic Soc by early next week, after Easter. So will put a draft on here soon.


Viv.
 
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Update - Draft response to the Civic Society I've now drafted a response below. Please shout if there's anything to add/of concern etc. (On pledges the contribution figure is made up of that pledged so far by Morturn, Di Poppet, Astoness, Speedy23 and myself). Many thanks all. Viv.

Hi Emma,

I hope you had an enjoyable Easter break. Please pass on Birmingham History Forum's thanks to the Society for its support to pursue a plaque for Phyllis Nicklin.

Below is our response to the specific points you raised in your email of 23 March.

University of Birmingham involvement

We're fully in favour of the idea of involving the University of Birmingham as this is where Phyllis worked for most of her career and is where a large part of her photographic collection was uncovered. Therefore, we look forward to hearing the University response to your approach.

Funding

With regard to funding, Birmingham History Forum is wholly funded by voluntary contributions and is maintained by volunteers. Any funding to support the site is raised by volunteers and the site's existence relies entirely on those contributions and the voluntary work of an IT specialist whose time is given freely. Without these people, the site would not exist and the work it does to highlight and support Birmingham's heritage would be lost. Having said that, we are keen to raise contributions towards the cost of a plaque as it is a cause we are fully committed to. At the moment we are actively seeking pledges of support to fund the plaque and so far we have £185 pledged towards its cost.

We've worked on the assumption that a plaque will cost around £1,000. It's unlikely we'll be able to attain that sort of figure from fundraising alone and would therefore seek either a contribution or an arrangement for match funding. If Birmingham University expresses an interest in being involved, perhaps, as you suggest, they'd be amenable to a contribution or match funding our contribution? We are actively in the process of preparing our plan to raise further funds.

Date and timing

The suggested anniversary year of 2019 for the erection of the plaque seems sensible to us and we're pleased with the idea of selecting a date to tie in with Phyllis Nicklin's birth. As well as being a meaningful date to the memory of Phyllis, this timing would be helpful to us in putting our fundraising plan into action.

I hope this answers the Society's questions. But please do get back in touch if you need anything further.
 
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hi viv just a quick question..do you know if the civic society will be helping with the funding or dont they do that..sorry if this question has already been asked and i missed it

lyn..x
 
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A good point Lyn. I'll work that into the email. I thought the Society would first seek contributions, but if the contributions could not be fully raised BCS would contribute. But don't quote me on that. So it's worth asking in our email. I now wonder if we should estimate how much we hope to raise and also ask them when would they need our contribution by. Personally I think around £400 might be achievable in time. What do others think? Thanks, Viv.
 
ok viv i think it would be good to ask the civic society that question (like we know where we stand) as they dont seem to have clarified that in anything they have written to you...this is all new to me but i take it that any money raised is to be sent to the civic society as i assume they must be ones who have these blue plaques made and erected....this is just couple of things that i have been mulling over...i really would not like to put a figure on how much we could raise..its one of those lol..but maybe £400 is reachable in time

lyn
 
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Feeling my way through this too Lyn. Not done anything like this before. Glad for people to raise questions as it all helps to clarify what we need to do. Thanks. Viv.
 
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