Oswaldtwistle Players are celebrating after receiving £3,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) towards their production of the Accrington Pals.
The award-winning local community drama group was awarded the money through the HLF’s First World War Then and Now programme.
It will allow the group to research and source historically accurate uniforms, costumes, props and artefacts.
The funding will also help towards making commemorative brochures and a foyer exhibition using collected photographs, newspaper clippings, documents, letters and photos of keepsakes, as well as family tales which have been passed down.
Claire Highton, chairman of the Players, said: “We are thrilled to have received the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund and are dedicated towards making ‘The Accrington Pals’ play an amazing experience for everyone involved in the production and for everyone who comes to see it.
“It is significant that a hundred years ago in 1914 a Recruitment Office for the Accrington Pals Battalion was housed in the Town Hall, Oswaldtwistle, which is now the home of Civic Arts Centre and the Civic Theatre where the play will be performed.”
Sara Hilton, head of HLF North West, said: “The impact of the First World War was far reaching, touching and shaping every corner of the UK and beyond.
“We have already invested more than £45 million in commemorative projects across the country, which enable local communities to explore and record their wartime history, and in Oswaldtwistle’s case bring it to life through drama, in a highly resonant local building, commemorating the many people from Accrington and Oswaldtwistle who were affected by the conflict.”
The Accrington Pals by Peter Whelan will be performed from October 15-18.
