VOLUNTEERS are being sought for a new project that aims to chart the history of migration in Cumbria.

'Hidden Stories - Shared Lives' launched at the Quaker Tapestry in Kendal, and the organisers want to encourage people to come forward and share their tales.

Project co-ordinator Paul Jenkins said: "We are delighted to be launching Hidden Stories and are inviting volunteers from across the community to come forward and help us research and collect accounts of migration in South Lakeland.

"Volunteers will receive free training, through the Oral History Society, and support to research and record actual migration stories. We want to hear from anyone with a story tell of their migration experience."

The project will create two new part-time jobs hosted by Cumbria Development Education Centre and has received the support of Lord Dubs, a long-standing campaigner on refugee rights.

"This is an exciting and important project that will connect people through the stories it gathers," he said. "I think it will raise understanding and awareness about migration in Cumbria.

According to statistics from the Cumbria Intelligence Observatory, the number of Cumbrian residents born outside the UK is less than a third of the national average at 3.7 per cent.

In 2013-14 an estimated 1,400 people moved into Cumbria from overseas and approximately 1,450 people moved out to live overseas, resulting in a net decrease of 50 people.

Oral histories gathered through Hidden Stories will form an archive that will be accessible online at the project website.

The project will run for 18 months and conclude with a travelling exhibition presenting the project archive in libraries, schools, town halls and other public spaces.

Anyone who wants to help, or has a migration story to share, can contact the project manager through the project website www.hidden-stories.co.uk or call CDEC on 01539 431602.