Our WW1 Discovery Trail project explored Worthing’s social history before, during and after the First World War. We ran research sessions for children and adults in Worthing Museum and library and, as interesting facts came to light, developed the discoveries into visually striking stages of a discovery trail.

The visual interpretations were displayed at 15 different venues in Worthing town centre for nearly three months during summer 2014, in shop windows of buildings that existed 100 years ago. We created a trail map guiding people to each venue. 10,000 trail maps were distributed to local schools and freely available in public places.

Our project wasn’t set in stone when we began: the 'hook' that would motivate people to follow the trail developed during the project. It turned out to be a collection of 15 hand written letters, one displayed at each venue alongside the visual interpretations. The letters were from a fictional character called Jack, a 12 year old boy writing to his father at war. 

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) application process itself was also very useful in developing the project idea. We submitted an expression of interest form which helped us clarify the key points without too much detail. The process of completing the full application then helped us think about tasks and costs that we may have neglected without being prompted.

The response from people of all ages was fantastic. It was our aim to create an inter-generational project that appealed to 9 year olds as well as 90 year olds. It worked!

Due to the great response and success of the project we were encouraged to apply for funding again. We met with Graeme McKirdy, one of the development officers for South East England, and he pin-pointed the key factors that stood out to him when we explained the new project idea.

This helped us concentrate on the heritage for Post to the Coast, our current, HLF-funded project. This project encourages people to walk along the coastal path, following a trail of wooden postcards to learn about Worthing’s rich seaside heritage and changes over the last 100 years.

Having HLF support has given us great credence and recognition from other organisations. This has elevated our position within the town and led to other ideas and proposals. We are currently working on two project ideas for next year!