Young people need more opportunities to apply a broad range of skills in real-world environments
Schools are increasingly looking for meaningful ways to help students:
Develop communication and confidence
Take ownership of meaningful projects
Build leadership and responsibility
Engage positively with their community
Use technology purposefully and responsibly
Create something with genuine audience and impact
Local Heroes brings these priorities together through one structured, practical programme.
Designed for dynamic Secondary school environments
Not educational theory. Not additional workload.
A practical programme designed to fit around real classrooms, real teachers and real students.
Flexible Delivery
Seamlessly integrate Local Heroes into curriculum time, enrichment activities, clubs or project-based learning. Adapt it to suit different year groups and timetables.
Meaningful Leadership
Move beyond limited formal prefect roles. Our collaborative framework gives multiple students the chance to take real ownership of research, interviewing and project curation.
Real-World Skills
Provide authentic contexts for students to apply their knowledge, developing the vital communication and employability skills they need for their future.
Fully Supported
You don’t need specialist tech or media expertise. We provide structured guidance, resources and archive tools using accessible, everyday equipment.
Local Heroes is supported & run by UK-based experts
Both our programme & digital archive platform are guided by experienced educators, storytellers and archivists
Local Heroes has been developed by education specialists and the team behind Legasee, home to the UK's largest archive of veteran interviews. Combining proven storytelling expertise with a purpose-built digital platform, Local Heroes helps organisations create lasting archives that preserve local stories for future generations.
Discover one programme... that tackles three core school priorities
Rather than addressing essential life skills through simulated tasks, here is why Local Heroes is the most effective way to help students build them through genuine audiences and real-world outcomes.
Communication & Confidence
Student Leaders. Empower young people to take ownership of real-world projects, learning how to ask thoughtful questions and communicate with confidence beyond their peer group.
Create Thoughtful Digital Citizens
Move students from passive consumers to responsible creators who understand audience, accuracy, consent and ethical digital publishing.
Drive Community Connection
Give students a genuine audience and purpose. By building a lasting digital archive, they experience the satisfaction of contributing to something bigger than themselves.
How We Work ... student-led, teacher-facilitated & tailored to suit your school
The programme is designed to give students maximum ownership while keeping you firmly in control. You facilitate the journey, while students take responsibility for the outcomes.
1
Access Your Guided Resources
Get everything you need to launch a purposeful project without creating extra planning hours for your staff.
Ready-to-Go Frameworks
Downloadable resources, student-facing briefs and clear learning objectives.
Safe & Secure
Comprehensive administrative templates for permissions, safeguarding checklists and publication consent.
Flexible Integration
Map the project easily to your specific employability, PSHE or enrichment goals.
Delegate & Research
Students step up into collaborative roles to identify their local hero and prepare for the engagement.
Collaborative Teamwork
Students take on authentic roles like Writers, Interviewers, Film Crew or Curators.
Critical Enquiry
Teams learn how to investigate experiences, verify information and write professional, probing interview questions.
Outreach Skills
Students practice professional communication by reaching out to community members and arranging the interviews.
2
3
Capture the Community Story
Students apply their skills in a real-world scenario by conducting and filming a genuine conversation.
Pupil-Led Production
Students take full control of the interview floor, managing the equipment, the guest and the conversation.
Active Listening
Interviewers must think on their feet, listen deeply and adapt their questions in real-time.
Teacher-Moderated
You oversee the environment, ensuring the experience is safe, respectful and educationally valuable.
Build your Digital Legacy
Students process their work into a permanent digital legacy, learning the weight of digital responsibility.
Responsible Creation
Students review their footage, considering accuracy and the impact of the story they are telling.
Your Bespoke Archive
Students upload their work to your school's secure, co-branded digital time capsule.
Secure Moderation
Nothing goes live without your approval. Admin users review and approve all profiles before they become public.
4
Develop & maintain a lasting legacy for your local community
Your young people will gain hands-on experience managing their own digital archive
Every interview, story and project contributes to a growing digital archive that celebrates the people, experiences and memories that shape your local community.
Unlike a display board or one-off event, Local Heroes creates something that can be revisited, expanded and shared for years to come. Created by participants, shared with others and preserved for future generations, it provides a lasting record of the conversations, memories and experiences that might otherwise be lost.
Celebrate the people who make your community unique
Capture and preserve stories for future generations
Strengthen connections between people and communities
Build a growing archive that can be revisited and expanded over time
Applications for our 2026 Early Adopter Cohort are now open!
Are you a Primary, Secondary School or Community Youth Organisation? Join the Local Heroes network and help young people discover and capture the extraordinary stories around them!
