A COMMUNITY group is launching a project to bring to life stories about women chainmakers in the Cradley Heath area.

"Friends of the Women Chainmakers" are inviting local people descended from the hard-working females who toiled in the industry to tell their anecdotes.

"We are also interested in the stories of women at work in the area in general," said the 'friends' chairman Lesley Jeynes-Bates, who is divisional secretary of the Dudley branch of the National Union of Teachers (NUT).

The group is urging anyone whose female ancestors worked in the local chainmaking industry to bring their ideas, stories and photographs to an event at Cradley Heath Library.

On Tuesday, December 1, there will be two showings of the short film Nothing To Lose at 2pm and 5pm - as well as free mince pies.

The friends plan to feature the accounts on a website and to create a book for schools telling the story of the women chainmakers of Cradley Heath, who went on strike in 1910 to demand a minimum wage.

The group was set up about 18 months ago and has around 25 members.

Mrs Jeynes-Bates said: "I live in Sydney Road, Cradley Heath and, just down the road, is a memorial garden to the chainmakers' leader, Mary Macarthur.

"I'm also a union member, so she's a bit of a role model."

The annual Women Chainmakers' Festival in Cradley Heath attracts thousands of visitors to the town.