A centenary project to celebrate the founding of the international aid charity Save the Children has received a big boost from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

It will be 100 years in May since Eglantyne Jebb, of Ellesmere, and her sister Dorothy held a public meeting in London’s Albert Hall to launch the relief organisation as their response to the plight of displaced and starving children across central Europe in the aftermath of the First World War.

Now a grant of £21,200 has been awarded to support an 18-month project led by the Ellesmere Sculpture Initiative in partnership with other local organisations.

Local fundraising is planned to meet the full £32,400 cost of the enterprise.

Over the next 12 months, local volunteers will research the history and heritage of Eglantyne Jebb. Their findings will be used in a series of community workshops and educational sessions in local schools to highlight the on-going refugee crisis and the work of Save the Children.

Project chairman Len Graham said: “We are delighted that, thanks to money raised by National Lottery players, this project can now go ahead. We are extremely grateful that the Heritage Lottery Fund, in making this grant, has recognised what we are trying to achieve.

“Eglantyne Jebb is an outstanding role-model for young people today, especially girls. Her personal achievement was immense and it’s fitting that her great humanitarian work is recognised in the town where she was born.

“To bring this to fruition, we will be working closely with other local organisations including Friends of Ellesmere Library, the social care charity Bethphage which runs the library in the Our Space community centre, the local arts group Fizzgigs, Shropshire Council, Ellesmere Town Council and, of course, Save the Children.”

The memorial sculpture will be unveiled towards the end of next year in Ellesmere’s Cremorne Gardens.

The celebration will culminate in a one-day seminar that will bring together leading figures to discuss Eglantyne’s achievement, the work of Save the Children and the contemporary situation regarding help for child refugees fleeing global conflicts.

Vanessa Harbar, head of HLF West Midlands, said: “The impact of the First World War was far reaching, touching and shaping every corner of the UK and beyond. Thanks to National Lottery players, HLF has already invested almost £100 million in more than 2,200 projects that are marking this global Centenary.”