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On 8 September 2025, we met with the Great Faith team in London, to explore a creative partnership that brings their powerful portrait exhibition into conversation with the Freedom Fountain Memorial in Cambridge. Around the table were Nizam Uddin and Maria Mays from Great Faith, artist Arabella Dorman, as well as the majority of the Freedom Fountain project team.
How Great Faith connects
Great Faith: Stories of Sacrifice and Contribution is Arabella Dorman’s landmark portrait series honouring Muslim servicemen and women who served Britain — work that “completes the picture” of shared wartime service and sacrifice. Arabella has kindly allowed us to link to the exhibition and to her website. Great Faith and the Freedom Fountain remain distinct artistic projects that support each other where appropriate—each retaining its integrity while serving a shared purpose of remembrance.
This collaboration was catalysed by Rev. Lord (Dr) Russell Rook OBE, who introduced us to Arabella and indicated his willingness to help host a Parliamentary event — a generous offer we’re taking forward. In parallel, Cambridge MP Daniel Zeichner has been invited to co-host a Westminster reception, with the Speaker’s involvement, to showcase both Great Faith and the Freedom Fountain.
Events Collaboration
We aligned on showcasing Great Faith alongside the Freedom Fountain at upcoming events (a Westminster reception in mid-January 2026; a gala in February 2026), with both artist Arabella Dorman and sculptor Colleen McLaughlin Barlow to speak about the work and the people behind it.
Great Faith Portraits
We are publishing a few of Arabella Dorman’s portraits from Great Faith to bring readers face-to-face with the people whose service anchors this history.
Art by Arabella Dorman. Copyright Great Faith: Stories of Sacrifice and Contribution. You can explore the full collection at: https://greatfaith.co.uk/portraits/.
Voices of those who served
Captain (Ret.) Yavar Abbas, a 105-year-old United British Indian Army veteran and war photographer, has offered his wholehearted support for the Freedom Fountain. His life story — featured by the Royal British Legion — beautifully complements the portrait narratives in Great Faith, reinforcing why placing Arabella Dorman’s work alongside the memorial matters. We’re honoured to carry his words into this partnership and will continue to reference his archive as part of our public storytelling.
With gratitude
Our thanks to Nizam Uddin, Maria Mays, the Great Faith team and Arabella Dorman for their openness, generosity, and commitment to telling a fuller story of service and sacrifice; to Lord Rook for his encouragement and convening; and to Daniel Zeichner MP for his continued support of a Cambridge memorial that speaks to our city’s multicultural heart.
Explore Great Faith: Stories of Sacrifice and Contribution online at https://greatfaith.co.uk/portraits/.
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We recently visited Castelluccio Valmaggiore — the birthplace of our colleague Piero D’Angelico, Commander of the Order of St George — for a ceremony celebrating international friendship and shared remembrance. Our trip deepened cultural ties between Italy and the UK and set out our vision for the Freedom Fountain Initiative, which we — Abdul-Kayum Arain, Piero D’Angelico, and Mihail Stoyanov — are proud to lead. Our visit was also covered by the Cambridge Independent: "Cambridge delegation bolsters Italian ties as Freedom Fountain initiative discussed".
Our delegation
We travelled alongside Cllr Baiju Thittala, Mayor of Cambridge, and Robert Dryden, Grand Master of the Order of St George, with us—Abdul-Kayum Arain (Chair of Cambridge Muslim Trust and Chaplain at Anglia Ruskin University), Piero D’Angelico (Founder of the Cambridge Gateway from India and Commander of the Order of St George), and Mihail Stoyanov (Chair of Little Bulgaria UK charity and Knight of the Order of St George).
We were warmly welcomed by Sir Pasquale Marchese, Mayor of Castelluccio Valmaggiore, who conferred honorary Italian citizenship on Mayor Thittala, Robert Dryden, and Abdul-Kayum Arain, recognising their cultural and charitable work, including the Cambridge Gateway from India, a restored heritage landmark celebrating our city’s multicultural story.
What we’re building: the Freedom Fountain
We presented our plan to create a memorial in Cambridge honouring the 1.5 million soldiers of the British Indian Army who served in the First World War and the 2.5 million who served in the Second—the largest volunteer force in military history. More than 50,000 Indian troops fought in Italy during WWII; 5,782 made the ultimate sacrifice.
Shared remembrance, shared purpose
Mayor Pasquale Marchese endorsed our vision and pledged support for a parallel memorial in Italy to honour the Indian soldiers who helped liberate his country. Addressing 29 Italian mayors, military leaders, and more than 200 guests, Mayor Baiju Thittala echoed our conviction that remembrance must live not only in books but in our civic spaces.
A solemn tribute followed, as members of the Italian Armed Forces laid flowers for the United British Indian Army alongside Italy’s fallen—a potent reminder of our common humanity.
Where we go next
We held constructive meetings with the mayors of Andria, Barletta, Trani, Margherita di Savoia, and Bari. Each expressed enthusiasm to work with us so this story of service and solidarity can be told across Italy. We are grateful for the warmth and partnership shown by our Italian friends. Our journey from Cambridge to Castelluccio Valmaggiore reaffirmed a simple truth: remembrance can bridge nations. Through the Freedom Fountain—and the relationships it inspires—we will help ensure the legacy of the United British Indian Army is honoured in Cambridge, in Italy, and in the shared conscience of a grateful world.
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On Friday 21 March 2025, we welcomed neighbours, traders, friends of Mill Road and invited guests to Ditchburn Place to share our plans for the Freedom Fountain — a memorial to honour the fallen heroes of the United British Indian Army (1898–1947) of the First and Second World Wars.
Why here, why now
Our aim is simple: to recognise, in the heart of diverse Mill Road, the extraordinary service of those who fought for the freedoms we share today—soldiers drawn from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, South-East Asia and across the Commonwealth. The memorial is planned for the gardens at Ditchburn Place, beside the Cambridge Gateway from India (installed in 2023), creating a coherent place of remembrance and reflection.
What we presented
We shared early visuals for a pink-marble fountain design that includes subtle “bullet-hole” motifs—each representing a Commonwealth nation—as a quiet reminder of sacrifice. The concept grew from conversations between Piero (on behalf of Mill Road traders) and the Mayor of Cambridge, Cllr Baiju Thittala. As Abdul put it, the memorial is intended to be a sustainable, educational and unifying symbol for Cambridge for generations to come.
With gratitude to our guests and supporters
We were honoured to be joined by:
- The Mayor of Cambridge, Cllr Baiju Thittala
- Cambridge MP Daniel Zeichner
- A representative of the Lord-Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire, Julie Spence
Linked community activity during the same period included a multicultural Iftar at the Guildhall (Monday 24 March 2025), supported by the Mayor, Cambridge Mosque Council, Islamic Relief, Anglia Ruskin University, Citizens Cambridge, Mill Road Traders, the Ethnic Forum, Beth Shalom Reform Synagogue, The Karim Foundation, Knights of St George the Martyr, the Cambridge Pakistan Cultural Association, the Bangladesh Cultural and Welfare Association of Cambridge, Little Bulgaria UK, and others. We are grateful for this broad coalition of goodwill.
What the Freedom Fountain stands for
The memorial will honour the largest all-volunteer force in history—around 1.5 million who served in WWI and 2.5 million in WWII—while telling a shared story of courage that connects Cambridge to Commonwealth histories. Our hope is for a space that invites learning, remembrance and everyday encounters across communities.
Next steps
We will continue engagement with residents, heritage groups and partners as design and planning progress, and we’ll share updates and future drop-in dates publicly. Thank you to everyone who came, asked thoughtful questions and offered practical suggestions—we felt the care, curiosity and pride that make Mill Road special.
Cambridge Independent article -
— Abdul, Piero and Mihail
The event was covered by the Cambridge Independent newspaper - "Visitors learn about plan for Mill Road memorial fountain"
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The Freedom Fountain initiative began with a single, profoundly moving weekend of remembrance in Cambridge, UK on November 2024.
At Great St Mary’s Church and the Guildhall, a multi-faith service and civic commemoration honoured the Indian soldiers who served in the First and Second World Wars — an observance that placed their courage and sacrifice at the centre of the city’s Remembrance season. The breadth of participation, the dignity of ritual, and the clarity of purpose shown by the organisers lit the fuse for what would become our project. On 9 November at the Guildhall, the Mayor of Cambridge welcomed “honoured guests” to reflect on those who “endured unimaginable hardships on foreign soils”, words that framed the weekend with grace and gravity.
What struck us first was the deliberate inclusivity. The service at Great St Mary’s wove readings, prayers and reflections from different traditions—an echo of the Indian Army’s own diversity.
The event then flowed into civic ceremony at the Guildhall. Cambridge City Council, led by Mayor Cllr Baiju Thittala, drew together veterans, cadets, faith leaders and community representatives in a shared act of gratitude. For our future founders, this was a template: remembrance that is public, plural and unifying. The Mayor’s tribute to a force “drawn from various regions, faiths, and languages, unified in their duty” captured precisely the spirit we hoped to carry forward.
The commemoration also told truths too seldom heard. Speakers highlighted the scale of service — 1.5 million in the First World War and 2.5 million in the Second — and remembered the 87,000 who never returned, alongside the more than 11,000 women who served in the Women’s Auxiliary Corps (India). Brief historical touchstones — the first Indian Victoria Cross in 1914, the bitter campaigns from El Alamein to Monte Cassino and Burma — gave the ceremony both texture and perspective. For us, these details underscored the moral urgency to give these stories a permanent, beautiful home in Britain.
Dignitaries and guests amplified that sense of shared responsibility. Among the voices was a message from Italy that reminded us memory travels across borders: in Italian soil, many Indian soldiers now rest, “a powerful symbol of shared struggle and of the bond that forever ties our histories together”. Sir Pasquale Marchese, the Mayor of Castelluccio Valmaggiore in Italy spoke of friendship with Cambridge “based on mutual respect, shared values, and a commitment to honouring history”, and expressed a hope that a memorial here might be matched in Italy — an idea that felt like a bridge forming in real time.
That weekend became our beginning
The Freedom Fountain emerged from the conviction that memory deserves form — that water, stone and light can carry the names, faiths and languages of those who stood shoulder to shoulder for freedom. We set out to create a memorial that is lived-in and welcoming: a civic space where schools can learn, families can reflect, faiths can gather, and Cambridge can honour the service of the United Indian Army every day — not just once a year. As the Mayor put it, our task is “to pass forward these memories, to teach them, to engrain them into the collective heritage we hold dear”.
In the months that followed, the Cambridge commemoration resonated far beyond the city. The language of unity — “a bridge, connecting us across time, culture, and community” — became our lodestar as we shaped the project’s next steps with partners at home and abroad. That recognition affirmed our purpose: to build a memorial that is as inclusive and international as the history it honours.
The Freedom Fountain is, therefore, both promise and response — a promise to those we remembered in November 2024, and a response to the community that showed how remembrance, done well, can unite a city. Our work began there; its spirit still does