The National Youth Agency/Heritage Lottery Fund programme is supporting a project, with the working title, Shipwrights and Singin' Hinnies, that will see young people aged 15-18 examine the local shipbuilding traditions and how these have passed down from generation to generation.
They will research how young people were employed within the industry, how the industry changed the natural environment on the river Wear, and examine the impact of its decline.
Young people will be trained in oral interviewing and document research techniques, take part in shipbuilding conservation projects and will record and present their experiences in exhibitions, booklets, a drama and a DVD presentation. l A film made by a Young Roots project about the life of playwright Joe Orton has been premiered at the recent Leicester Comedy Festival. Orton was brought up on Leicester's Saffron Lane Estate but many young people in this disadvantaged area know little about his achievements.
A group of young people spent over a year researching and filming aspects of his life.
