A THEATRE group that provides weekly workshops for over 50s at Salisbury Playhouse has been awarded £10,000 for an intergenerational project celebrating local heritage.

Mind the Gap, which is one of the first groups in the UK to receive the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) All Our Stories Grant, is looking at life in the 1960s and comparing it to more recent experiences of growing up.

The project, entitled 60s Stories, will involve adult and youth theatre groups and include community reminiscence events to share personal archives.

These memories, as well as those provoked by visits to archives and historic sites, will then be shaped through workshops by a professional writer for a play to be performed and shared with community groups.

There will also be an exhibition and soundtrack available on audio guides for those visiting the region.

The grant programme, All Our Stories, was launched earlier this year in support of BBC Two’s The Great British Story - and has been designed as an opportunity for everyone to get involved in their heritage.

TV presenter and historian Michael Wood said “We British love our history, and no wonder: few nations in the world, if any, have such riches on their doorstep, and so much of it accessible to all of us.

"It is really tremendous that the people of Salisbury have been inspired to get involved to tell their own story and to dig deeper into their own past.”

Mark Powell, associate director of Salisbury Playhouse, said: “We are so pleased to have been awarded this grant and are looking forward to starting work on 60s Stories.

"I know there are lots of people across Wiltshire with fascinating stories to tell and we will then be able to share them in this new play.”