A NEW initiative in Blaenau Gwent could bring its social and industrial history alive, making it a "key cultural destination" in south Wales.

It is hoped the Blaenau Gwent Access to Heritage project will create a cultural hub for the area after being set up by the local authority, supported by a £176,900 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

It will see the 300 volunteers currently involved in Blaenau Gwent's heritage organisations increased to around 375 trained in IT skills, cataloguing, collection care, oral history skills and working with educational audiences.

These will work on the vast amount of artefacts, photographs, paintings and taped interviews donated by local people that have been collated by volunteers but are largely out of public view because of a lack of expertise and funding.

Some of these date from prehistoric and Roman times, to artefacts capturing Blaenau Gwent's social and industrial heritage, including the Miners' Strike of the 1980s.

The funding will allow the 15 museums, archive groups and history organisations in the area to come together by sharing resources, hosting joint community events and working with schools and adult learners, encouraging local people to research and explore their local heritage.

It will also fund a dedicated Access to Heritage website, a full-time access heritage officer and a part-time documentation officer.

In announcing the funding, chairman of the Heritage Lottery Fund in Wales Dan Clayton Jones said: "This project will bring together the area's industrial and social past, while creating a brilliant cultural experience for local people and visitors to the area."

Shirley Meyrick, a volunteer manager at Blaina Museum, said:"We get visitors from across the UK to America and New Zealand coming to the museum.

"People are really keen to learn about the industrial revolution of the south Wales Valleys, as well as people wanting to explore their family history, so this grant could help to establish Blaenau Gwent as a key cultural destination."