EARBY and District Local History Society has received £6,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund for a project recording how the Great War impacted on the town.

To mark the centenary of WWI, the plan is for local residents to preserve the memories and heritage of the people who lived through the conflict.

Volunteers will collect photographs, newspaper cuttings, documents, letters, diaries, and photos of keepsakes, as well as family tales passed down, to help build up a clear picture of what life was like.

With help from professionals, the multi media project, ‘The Effects of the First World War on Earby and Its People’, is intended to be a community project, involving schools, libraries, Earby Brass Band, the community centre and members of the public, as well as society members.

The project will include the publication of a book, events and talks to show how World War I ancestors can be researched, an exhibition in October and a music and poetry event featuring Earby Brass Band.

The aim is to set up a World War I archive within the society’s community heritage archive as a resource future generations.

Society chairman, Bob Abel said: “The society is delighted to have received this support and the funding will allow us to produce a professional looking exhibition which can then be offered for display at other venues in the community.”