A community radio station has secured a grant of £92,000 to work with a local theatre to create a new ongoing radio soap.
'Memories Are Made of This' is the name of the joint project created by the New Theatre Royal and 93.7 Express FM. It will collect stories and memories from residents local to Portsmouth and South East Hampshire.
Results of the research will be collated and used to form the basis of an ongoing radio soap about life on the South Coast that will be broadcast on the community radio station. All the information gleaned will also be incorporated into a 'Living Memories Wall of City Stories' in the new build of the Theatre Royal and on a website dedicated to the project.
The grant has been awarded from a £20million Transformation Fund, launched by Government to offer funding to innovative informal adult learning projects in England.
The projects, mainly spearheaded by partnerships between public, private and third sector organisations, aims to help improve mental health, physical well-being, active citizenship and community cohesion.
"We are really excited and pleased that our bid was successful in the face of tough competition," says Express FM Station Director Cheryl Buggy.
"We hope this project will prove to be a legacy for the City. In the beginning it will be a 20th Century story, but with the right tools and degree of passion and enthusiasm, it will be able to continue to be developed well into the 21st Century."