FUNDING has been secured to create and oral history and community celebration about Dancing in Dawlish.

Memories of dancing in the heyday of the 1940s to 1960s seaside music scene are the focus of the new oral history project and community event that has been launched with government funding to the tune of £14,730 from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

At the Hop! will involve young people interviewing elderly people and care home residents in Dawlish to capture their experiences and anecdotes of the dance floor decades ago.

The interviews will be developed into a 30-minute audio programme which will be made publicly available to schools, museums and libraries with the aim of enhancing community cohesion and understanding between the generations.

At the Hop! is being led by Dr Tony Lidington, Senior Lecturer in the University of Exeter’s Department of Communications, Drama and Film, and Artistic Director of local arts organisation, Promenade Promotions (Prom-Prom).

He explained: ‘Dancing is a past-time most people have enjoyed in their youth and the youthful experiences of care home residents today are from the 1940s-60s.

‘The aim is for these elderly residents to reflect on their experiences from when they would have been roughly the same age as their interviewers.’

Prom-Prom is a pioneering organisation, exploring heritage and popular performance, with 20 years of experience delivering professionally-run, community projects.

Recelty, the team focused particularly on nurturing emerging local talent, with projects such as this summer’s Sunshine Follies seaside entertainment training programme, funded by Arts Council England.

With funding from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, through Teignbridge Arts Project, At the Hop! will offer training for three aspiring creatives, enabling them to develop new skills in oral history techniques and audio technology as well as guidance in the ethics and protocols around interviewing.

During November, the trio will meet residents of two care homes, as well as attendees of a luncheon group, to gather audio clips of their stories and memories.

They will then work with Teignmouth’s Wandering Tiger Productions to edit a final piece.

Dr Liddington added: ‘The project aims to develop pride in place, encourage social cohesion and intergenerational relationships, improve employment opportunities for young people and provide a celebration of the town in which we live.

‘Following the COVID pandemic, many young people shied-away from direct engagement with others and this project aims to address this need.

‘Such inter-generational engagement rarely occurs in Dawlish, because local elderly folk don’t often have the opportunity to meet younger adults.’

The finished recording will be launched at a celebratory community event in The Strand Centre, Dawlish, on Saturday January 25.

The event will be open and accessible to all and will feature dancing to live 1940s-60s music.

At the Hop! has received £14,370 from the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund which aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills.