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Keeping those old skills alive for new generation
A LOTTERY grant of nearly £50,000 is being used to keep skills alive for a new generation.
Traditional crafts, skills and pastimes are being passed on to youngsters as part of Age Concern's Home Spun Yarns project.
And the project has landed a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of 49,800 to help document crafts including embroidery, knitting, woodwork and pottery.
Jane Pugh, an arts and crafts tutor, said: "We are hoping that there will be a whole range of things people may be able to show us that otherwise might be lost.
"These crafts are what we did when we were younger, the various things we used to do when we didn't have a PlayStation."
She added: "You never know, we might come back to all this with the credit crunch."
There will be a number of events taking place until September, including craft workshops and a collaborative community art- work. Volunteers will be given the opportunity to be interviewed by schoolchildren about these crafts and past times.
Photographs and stories will be put together in an exhibition at the Piece Hall, Halifax, during August. A DVD will also be produced featuring some of the crafts.
Local historian Dr John Hargreaves said: "It is often mentioned that people in this area have textiles running in their blood and there are a lot of skills that people possess that we don't really hear about."
The project follows a similar exhibition looking at sport played in Calderdale over the years.
Age Concern's Kate Billson, coordinator for Home Spun Yarns, was previously involved with the sport and leisure project.
She said: "We had great feedback. Museums were telling us that it was the most visited exhibition they had had for a long time.
"Some of the people involved were really pleased to see their own stories in an exhibition."
The project kicks off at the Bankfield Museum, Boothtown, on Thursday January 29 between 2pm and 4pm. There will be several craft demonstrations.
Anyone over the age of 50 who wants to volunteer, either demonstrating crafts or involved in other parts of the project, should contact Age Concern on 01422 252040.
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Saturday 04 February 2012
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