PEOPLE around the world will be able to leave a mark on history with the launch of a not-for-profit website designed to ensure the survival of a record of humanity in the electronic age.

Immortality will be guaranteed on the Library of Life website, which will also raise funds for the 181 Red Cross and Red Crescent societies. In an age when e-mails and text- messaging have taken over from letter-writing, the project aims to create a permanent record for future historians and biographers on the website www.libraryoflife.org.

The project has the backing of Prince Michael of Kent, as well as the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).

The venture is the brainchild of Stephen Forsyth, an entrepreneur who wanted a way to preserve the memory of his late brother, James.

The aim is to record the names and biographical details of as many people as possible. Those who wish to keep their details private will be able to do so, but others can post a full biography.

Red Cross and Red Crescent volunteers and workers will be among the first to be asked to post their details, along with their stories of working to alleviate the suffering of some of the world’s poorest people.

It is also hoped that schools and youth organisations will join in. Young people will be able to interview and photograph their grandparents and write up their life stories and recollections so they can be preserved before it is too late.

Anyone will be able to register and post a photograph and some biographical details for free. For a registration fee of £16.25 they will be able to post unlimited text, up to 200 pictures, five minutes of film and 20 minutes of sound.

Of that fee, £2.70 will be donated to the IFRC, which has been guaranteed a minimum income from the project of £50,000 a year for the first five years. There will be no monthly or annual charges and the site will remain free of advertising. The remaining funds will be used to maintain the site.

The official launch will take place after Christmas, but the site went online last Thursday. The period between now and January will be used to iron out teething problems.

Henry Chamberlain, the managing director of the Library of Life Trust, said: “The website will ensure that all future generations can learn from our experiences. We believe that it will become a duty for the young to help the older generations to take part.”

It is hoped that families will set up private albums on the site, accessible only to family members via a password.

Legal and technical experts have been employed to monitor all entries to prevent defamatory or disparaging material being posted.

Jeremy Hughes, the head of external communications for the IFRC, said that the federation was interested in collecting a record of the achievements of individuals in “bettering the world and furthering the cause of humanity”.

He said: “We saw the potential in being able to record the achievements of Red Cross and Red Crescent volunteers. We have 97 million members, that is an awful lot of people who have a story to tell. The danger today is that these stories are not being recorded for history, because so many communications today are by telephone, e-mail and text-messaging. In previous generations, the Red Cross archives were full of letters and documents relating what everyone was doing. Today, we have none of that and the danger is that it is being lost.”

The partnership between the IFRC and the Library of Life Trust was unveiled at a meeting in Geneva last month. In the next two weeks the federation will send out a letter to all its national societies worldwide, informing them how volunteers and staff can take part.

Mr Hughes said: “It is a good way for people to record their achievements and their concern for other people in a way that is accessible. By enabling people to learn about each other, and read about the lives of others, we hope to encourage humanitarian activity.”

• A new website of five million servicemen’s records from the First World War has received more than 1.4 million hits in its first five days after being put on the internet by the National Archives at Kew. The site, which lists the medals won by those who fought in the Army and the Royal Flying Corps, includes records for the future Edward VIII, Winston Churchill, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Wilfred Owen. The website can be found at www.documentsonline.nationalarchives.gov.uk.

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