Young Roots
The torpedo factory in Inverclyde was built in 1911 and remains standing today. The factory and the First World War brought enormous social change to the area - an entire community of workers from the South of England were controversially relocated there to work alongside local people. After the outbreak of war many workers became soldiers.
Working with Inverclyde Development Trust and the Watt Library Archive, young people researched the history of the factory alongside the real-life experiences of soldiers, using newspaper archives.
The project involved young people who were academically capable but were at risk of falling out of the formal education sector. The project was designed to give informal learning opportunities to all the young people.
One group of young people worked with a professional screenwriter to develop a script based on their research. They wrote a play that was then performed to the public.
Another group of young people used the Watt Library's archives to research the stories of people from Greenock during the war. These stories were then turned into a 1914-style broadsheet newspaper.