PEOPLE who have worked at Kays, in Worcester, are being invited to share their memories for the sake of posterity.

Film of former employees relating memories and anecdotes will be placed on a website to form a living archive.

The Kays Community Archive Group has won an Awards for All lottery grant of £4,922 to buy computer and audio equipment for the project.

"There are very few families in Worcester who have not got at least one person who has worked for Kays," said Archive Group chairman, Bernard Mills, who has worked for the company intermittently for nearly 30 years.

The group is part of the Kays Heritage Group, made up of ex-employees and others with an interest in the social history of the city's largest employer.

They have gathered together a collection of memorabilia and documents recording the history of the company, from its beginning as a watchmakers in St Swithin's Street in 1794.

"The mail order business began in the late 1880s and, of course, the Heritage Group is very interested in the old catalogues.

"We have some going back to 1893," said Mr Mills.

"If anyone still has one in their loft we would love to have it, because they document the social development of retail and of us as a nation.

The group also collects all kinds of artefacts associated with the history of Kays, from clocks and watches to sewing machines and all the items that were sold through the catalogue.

"Besides keeping a record of the written word, which many people find boring, we want to create a living history by recording people talking about their work, with any anecdotes they can remember," said Mr Mills.

"We will visit them in their homes or in groups to interview them and then put the recordings on CD-Rom."

The group would also like to see old photographs of Kays' Christmas parties, sports club outings, events and celebrations, which can be scanned and included on the website.

The project is part of a larger community multimedia archive network, called Commanet, which has been set up to record the social history of Britain.

Anyone with memories they would like to share can call Bernard Mills on 01905 856567, or email him at bernard_mills@btopenworld.com