PEOPLE living in Bowling will be hanging out the bunting to say what's great about the area they live in.

A community group is turning scarves, curtain, duvets and pillow cases into flags and writing personal messages about their neighbourhood as part of a summer scheme to bring people together.

The Creative Threads Project Shine - Spring Into Summer involves 25 people who will use the creations to decorate St Stephen's Church in West Bowling.

Flags for 60 strings of bunting are being created by residents of East and West Bowling at a weekly group which meets at the Newton Street church.

Project manager and director of Shine West Bowling Donna Harper said: "It's about community cohesion and to celebrate all of the different people across East and West Bowling.

"I provide creative activities to encourage cohesion, family learning. But in reality it’s the group members that provide the inspiration through storytelling and sharing of creative skills and ideas.

"Each piece of bunting will have a story tag on it, where people will say who they are, what they think of East and West Bowling and their story of how they came to live here.

"It is an opportunity to get people together.

"The bunting is to celebrate all of the art work the group has done to decorate the church and its grounds before its Mela.

"When people have completed their memory bunting, they can choose to add it to the exhibition or take it home and display it privately."

The project, which started in March, is divided into two parts.

Creative Threads provides participants with a bunting template to take home and using recycled fabric, shows a design which represents the person and their family.

The separate, memory bunting part of the project is for people who have kept fabric or clothing material which holds special memories. This can be brought to the weekly group to create an individual bunting template.

The designs will also be displayed as part of the Creative Threads 2009 to 2015 Exhibition, also held at the church.

The bunting will be on show at the church's mela and garden party in July. It will be shown alongside art and craft work produced by Creative Threads Project members.

Shine West Bowling which aims to create a vibrant community hub in West Bowling, which reaches the area's socially excluded and brings members of the community together.

Creative Threads will continue to meet each week after the bunting project has been completed in July.