PEOPLE will be encouraged to home in on history which is special to their local communities in a £300,000 lottery-funded project.

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has awarded the money for the three-year venture.

The Celebrating Community Heritage project will focus on the social, cultural, and industrial history of settlements in the North East.

The project will be run by Beamish Museum in County Durham.

It will involve schools, community organisations and individuals in activities where they live and at the museum.

Beamish director Richard Evans said that local people could come up with a wide range of projects, ranging from the historical roots of their communities to industries, landmarks or particular objects.

He said that the recent riots had shown the importance of encouraging young people to form bonds with the place they live.

“The North East has seen a lot of changes in the last 50 years or so and it is important for young people to have a sense of local identity and understand what their ancestors did. The project is a fantastic opportunity to get local people involved in hands-on learning about themselves and their history and heritage.

“Beamish will be working with communities to explore their past and will be encouraging everybody to take part.

“The project is a real opportunity to come together to learn from each other and celebrate the unique role their community has played in shaping the remarkable history of the North East.”