All at sea with £28,500 grant (From Tewkesbury Admag)

All at sea with £28,500 grant

SHIPSTON will again be turned into a seaside resort for one day in August after scooping a big lottery grant.

The Heritage Lottery Fund has awarded £28,500 to develop the Shipston-on-Sea project, which was first launched last year.

The project will also help develop a heritage identity for Shipston through an oral history project, and heritage trails and leaflets are also planned for the town centre.

The project will be led and directed by Stour Power, the town's regeneration body, with support from Stratford District Council and Warwickshire County Council.

"The whole project will potentially bring enormous benefits to Shipston and the surrounding villages," said councillor Les Topham, the district council leader with responsibility for market towns.

"It will put us firmly on the map, both short and long term, with visitors over a wide area.

"This funding will enable us to enhance the awareness of what is on offer and give us an opportunity to celebrate and promote all that is great about Shipston and the Stour Valley.

"Stour Power can now go ahead with organising what we intend will be one of the biggest, perhaps the biggest, and most successful events ever in the area.

"Local traders, businesses and community groups all supported our bid for funding and I'm confident they will all get involved enthusiastically in making sure the festival and the whole project is a resounding success," said Cllr Topham.

The Shipston-on-Sea project will culminate in a festival, which will celebrate the heritage of Shipston.

The Heritage Lottery Fund's regional manager said: "One of our aims is to ensure every community has the opportunity to celebrate its local heritage.

"This project is a great example of this as it will allow local people to explore and develop Shipston's own heritage identity."