A PROJECT to allow young people the chance to explore Wellington’s heritage has been given the thumbs-up by local councillors.

Members of Wellington Town Council’s community committee heard that plans were being developed to create a Youth Heritage Project – an opportunity to look at Wellington’s heritage while also nurturing their own practical and interpersonal skills.

Community development officer, Laura Batcha, said: “Young people would be supported to research and explore Wellington’s heritage, undertake different project roles and ultimately help determine how their findings should be interpreted and shared with the wider community.”

Ms Batcha said in a report that they would look to recruit around 15 young people from across the town to take part in the project.

“Heritage would provide the focus for the pilot with Wellington’s social history identified as a potential starting point,” she said. “Young people would be supported to undertake research, engage with heritage and community partners and consider how the stories they uncover could be interpreted for today’s community.

“Alongside heritage activity, the pilot would provide participants with opportunities to undertake practical project roles. These could include research, project planning, communications and marketing, budgeting, digital content, creative development and community engagement.”

Councillors welcomed the initiative and agreed to make £10,000 available for the project from the council’s youth development budget split across the 2026-27 and 2027-28 financial years.

The Mayor, Cllr Mark Lithgow, said it was “pitiful” that the “funding and resources for youth services outside mainstream education” had greatly reduced nationally over the years.

“We are trying to do what we can here in Wellington and we need to get on with it,” he said.

And he added: “We can’t really complain about people in our community who are getting into trouble when we haven’t invested in them at an early age.”