VOLUNTEERS and storytellers gathered together recently to celebrate the first anniversary of the Tavistock Area Support Services' Life Stories Project.

More than 20 storytellers and volunteer recorders enjoyed the celebratory cake and coffee and took advantage of the opportunity to meet other participants and swap reminiscences.

The project has been generously funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund to gather memories from elderly residents in Tavistock and the surrounding areas.

It has received wonderful support from local volunteers who have visited the storytellers to record their memories and many amazing stories have been recorded so far.

A spokesperson for the Life Stories project said: 'The memories range from lives lived almost entirely in Devon and Cornwall, to people who have travelled the world and just happen to have landed in the Tavistock area for their retirement years.

'All life stories are unique and provide an insight into eras and ways of life that many younger people would find almost impossible to believe.

'It is not so long ago that the only method of instant communication was by a public telephone box, one to a village if you were lucky, and an indoor toilet was a luxury.

'These first-hand memories of times-gone-by are being collected in a written and verbal form and will be available for future generations.'

The Life Stories project will shortly be able to display an exhibition containing the memories collected and any school or organisation that would be interested in hosting this exhibition is invited to contact Val Vines on 01822 610942 for further details.

Manager at TASS Andy Lyle said: 'It has been a humbling 12 months of listening to the stories of a time gone by and being able to record these memories for generations to come.'

A booklet has been printed containing childhood memories of eight storytellers, selected from the many stories collected so far.

Copies of this booklet were presented to all the storytellers featured and also to each of the volunteers who have been involved in the project.

The booklet will also feature as part of a schools pack, being assembled and distributed to all local primary schools as part of the project to provide children with first-hand accounts of recent history.

Booklets featuring memories of World War Two and working lives are currently in production.

l The project is continuing and anyone who would be interested in having their life stories recorded, or volunteering as a recorder to visit and gather the memories, is invited to contact Val Vines on the above number.