People will be able to preserve and celebrate their heritage through exhibitions - thanks to a £130,000 grant.

The Heritage Lottery Fund cash will help community groups in County Durham organise and run displays based on their own collections.

The aim is to provide an insight into the way industries, such as coal mining and its way of life, have shaped local identities.

At least 25 community-based exhibitions will be set up and about 50 local history groups will be involved. It is also hoped to attract youth organisations.

Overseeing the projects will be a community heritage officer, appointed by Durham County Council for three years.

Training workshops will be held to show how to look after collections, interpretations, cataloguing and oral history recording. In addition, news-letters and a website will provide more information.

Keith Bartlett, Heritage Lottery manager for the North-East, said the project will include communities which the fund regards as priorities, either because they have submitted fewer than average applications or because they have been affected by declining industries.

Durham County Council's director of cultural services, Patrick Conway, said: "The Community Heritage Project is a wonderful opportunity for the county council to support the great work carried out across the county by many local groups that are collecting and displaying their local heritage.

"The impetus and need for the project came from the community, and this is a great example of a project which is both strategic and county-wide, yet responds to a need at grassroots level."