A WINCHESTER theatre company has received funding for a project that aims to help children in Eastleigh learn about life during World War One.

Wet Picnic has received a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for their project, Possible Futures, that will enable children to learn about the heritage of the First World War.

The grant was provided as part of the Heritage Lottery Fund’s First World War Then and Now programme.

Children will work closely with professional artists looking at stories from people in Eastleigh during the conflict and the impact the war had on the local community.

They will take part in 11 weeks of street theatre workshops as part of the project, collecting photographs, newspaper clippings, documents, letters and keepsakes passed down from family members, before performing at the Bandstand in front of family and friends.

Information gathered will be digitally recorded and displayed at an exhibition at Eastleigh Museum.

Wet Picnic artistic director, Matt Feerick, said: “We are thrilled to have received the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund which will really enable us to allow the young people to connect with the rich history of their town and very much support a project which allows for students to be immersed in their own history.”

Head of the HLF in the South East, Stuart McLeod, said: “The impact of the First World War was far reaching, touching and shaping every corner of the UK and beyond. The Heritage Lottery Fund has already invested more than £47million in projects – large and small - that are marking this global centenary.

“With our new small grants programme, we are enabling even more communities like those involved in Possible Futures to explore the continuing legacy of this conflict and help local young people in particular to broaden their understanding of how it has shaped our modern world.”