VETERANS are being invited to create artwork to celebrate a former Altrincham military hospital that treated Tommies recovering from the horrors of the Trenches.

The Hut Project which will provide former soldiers with an insight into how the National Trust’s Dunham Massey Hall used a small hut to provide a ‘fresh air cure’ for injured service personnel during the First World War.

The hut formed part of treatment at the Georgian house when it was transformed into the Stamford Military Hospital between 1917 and 1919 to act as a sanctuary for almost 300 injured infantrymen.

Veterans participating will work with an art professional to create a series of installations depicting the history of Dunham Massey during the war and reflecting their own experiences of military life.

Charlotte Smithson, Dunham Massey’s development manager said: “Soldiers today are still having to live with the trauma of warfare a century on from the Great War, and The Hut Project is a thought provoking way of sharing their experiences with those thousands of visitors who will be coming to see the hospital next year.”

The Hut project is a partnership between the National Trust and the North West Military Veterans’ Service, a psychological therapies service run by Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust.

It aims to engage with veterans and provide the public with a greater understanding of the psychological and emotional impact of being injured at war had on soldiers.

The veterans’ finished artwork work will be installed in an authentic replica of the hut from February 2015.

Dunham Massey reopened to reflect wartime role in March 2014 as part of National Trust commemorations to mark the centenary of the First World War.

The house features the hospital’s main ward in the saloon, the soldiers’ recreation room, the operating theatre and the nurses’ station.

Two recruitment days for veterans will be held during November and December and the project itself will include a series of eight workshops held on Tuesdays and Thursdays beginning in January.

Recruitment sessions will be held on Friday November 28 from 11am-2pm and Tuesday December 2 from 11am-2pm at Vulcan Mill, 12-18 Pollard Street, Manchester, M4 7AN.

For more, call 0161 942 3958 or email charlotte.smithson@nationaltrust.org.uk