A Suffolk-based arts charity has been awarded a National Lottery grant of £73,000 by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) to bring school children and older people together to celebrate Lowestoft’s folk heritage.

Suffolk Artlink’s new project, Lowestoft Folk, is also supported by Lowestoft Rising and will be delivered in partnership with Lowestoft Museum and the Maritime Museum.

During the two-year long project, artists will lead school pupils and care home residents in an exploration of artefacts and stories found in the Museums, including quilts, porcelain and paintings, dolls houses, scale model boats, ship figureheads and sea shanties.

Groups of pupils from four Lowestoft schools, including Oulton Broad Primary, Pakefield Primary and Roman Hill Primary will each be paired with a nearby residential care home in the area.

Through 12 weekly creative workshops, the intergenerational pairings will share their memories and experience of local folk traditions with each other and create contemporary folk art, to be added to the Museums’ existing collections.

From next summer, Suffolk Artlink will also be holding family storytelling events and workshops for the general public in Lowestoft, as well as running touring exhibitions of the work created by participants.

In addition to the four schools directly involved in the project, Suffolk Artlink will deliver special storytelling events to other schools in the area.

Candida Wingate, Suffolk Artlink Project Officer, said: “Being creative together will inspire us all to connect with Lowestoft’s rich cultural heritage and help strengthen relationships in our communities.

“We are looking forward to bringing local school pupils and care home residents together to explore our shared history and to create new exhibition pieces for our Museums that will bring it to life for others.”

Robyn Llewellyn, Head of Heritage Lottery Fund East of England, added: “We’re delighted to support Suffolk Artlink to bring together the community and explore folk traditions in Lowestoft. Thanks to money raised by National Lottery players, this project will give people the opportunity to be creative, connect with people of different ages and learn more about their local heritage.”

Lowestoft Folk will run from January 2018 to September 2019, for more information, visit www.suffolkartlink.org.uk.