IT has been touching for the actors taking part in the performances of F.A.N.Y to meet people whose relatives had served in the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry.

Focusing on the lives of five women, Anonymous Is A Woman Theatre Company (AIAWTC) looked through the archives at the Imperial War Museums to find out the real story behind the women who volunteered.

Leila Sykes, from Great Malvern and a founder of AIAWTC, said the women's stories were inspiring: "These women drove ambulances in France during the First World War.

"They faced negativity from the British Army to start with so they had to begin on the Belgium side.

"They had to prove themselves before they would let them help the British.

"The story follows five of those women from the moment they sign up until 1917, before the was has ended.

"Because it was voluntary you had to pay for your uniform and travel expenses which meant a lot of the women where middle class or upper class.

"It was really a baptism of fire because most of the women had never worked before - they had soft hands and then suddenly they are driving this massive ambulance across battlefields and dealing with horrendous injuries.

"Some of these women had never even touched a man before."

AIAWTC was set up to tell the unheard stories about women from history.

"When we heard about the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry a lot of people didn't know about them so we wanted to tell their story because their story needed to be told.

"There are all these wonderful stories about men in the war, and rightly so, but these women no one really knows it happened.

"It seemed to fit together in terms of our company and creatively."

Leila, who was a student at The Chase, plays Bobby Waldron and all the characters are based on real women though their names and other details have been changed.

"Most things that happen in the play did happen to people.

"Bobby is an MP's daughter and is from the rural outskirts of London.

"She would have gone to Cambridge but she decided she wanted to fight."

Last year saw people mark 100 years since the start of World War One last year, and Leila felt that now was the most important time to tell these stories.

"I think it is more important because we have lost that direct contact with people who served in the war.

"We have had members of the audience whose parents were in FANY.

"They have been so moved by the story and said how interesting and moving it was.

"It is an important story to tell because if you don't know the history then you are doomed to repeat it again."

F.A.N.Y will play at The Hive Studio, Worcester, on Saturday, May 2 from 7pm.

Tickets cost £10 adults and £8 students/over 65s available online at thehiveworcester.org.