THE Mayor of Warrington cllr Geoff Settle is backing a bid to secure funding for the Oral History Project at the RAF Heritage Centre in Burtonwood.

Cllr Settle has written an open letter to show his support for the plans and has called on others to do the same.

He said: "It gives me great pleasure to write this letter of support for the Oral History Project on behalf of Warrington Borough Council. 

"Creating an oral history by interviewing former military personnel and civilians associated with the base – throughout its 54 year history – is a great way of bringing the memories alive, especially the hidden stories which will give an interesting insight to life on the base.

"Last year Warrington was criticised for not having any cultural heritage. Which for anyone who lives here knows that is untrue. 

"This project is one way of addressing this misconception by drawing attention to the role played by the RAF at Burtonwood and US troops based at Burtonwood. It will bring that Second World War heritage to life in an exciting and personal way."

Cllr Settle, who is chairman of the Warrington Visually Impaired People, added that he understands how many members appreciate listening to the spoken word through the weekly spoken newspaper. 

He said: "They will get great pleasure in listening to the 50 or more stories that the project aims to record. 

"In fact some of them may well have memories of their own that they would like to share. 

"As a primary school governor I believe that it will also be a good learning resource for children who visit the Burtonwood Heritage Centre. 

"Children love to listen to listen stories when older visitors come to school because they are first hand and fire their imagination of how it used to be.

"I look forward to seeing the work in progress and sitting down at the end of the project to listen to the tales of when over 18 thousand Americans and over 70,000 service personnel worked at Burtonwood and how they changed the lives of the community."

The project will be maintained by The Imperial War Museum and will be available online and in the RAF Heritage Centre.

Recordings have already been scheduled to take place with veterans from America who are visiting the UK later this year.

If you are interested in taking part e-mail Stephen Tasker Stephen@scottdawson.co.uk.