15 October 2025
Commonwealth War Graves connects with East Sussex Schoolchildren for Black History Month
Seaford Cemetery in East Sussex once again played host to our annual Black History Month commemoration with students from local Annecy Catholic Primary School.
For the fifth year running, students from the school joined together with invited local dignitaries, representatives of local groups and the Royal Navy for Black History Month to commemorate those buried there and learn their stories.
Seaford is a particularly important place for the Black community as it was here, in 1915, that the British West Indies Regiment was formed, and it is home to the largest number of burials from that regiment in the UK, at 19.
The event is organised and run by Sarah Nathaniel from the Public Engagement and Education team.
Sarah said: “This is one of my favourite events in the year. It is so lovely to see the young people engaging with the cemetery and learning about their local heritage. Seaford is such a key site for us in the South East of England with many nationalities remembered here and, of course, the close connection between the BWIR and the Seaford community.”
Following a tour of the cemetery and activities in one of the plots, a short Act of Remembrance was held with students and staff from the school reading the poem ‘Nineteen’ by Valerie Bloom, written about the men commemorated here who had travelled from the Caribbean to serve.