AN exhibition marking the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War gets under way at the Hive on Monday - the exact 100th anniversary of Britain's entry into the conflict.

The Worcestershire Great War Exhibition, which is hosted by the Worcestershire Archive and Archaeology Service, will feature information about people from the county effected by the Great War.

The display will include photographs and documents based on three main themes, gender and home front, childhood, and cities at war.

The exhibition is part of the Worcestershire World War One Hundred programme, which is one of the largest across England.

It will commemorate the First World War from 2014 to 2018 with exhibitions, parades, concerts, church services and remembrance events, involving cultural and heritage organisations county-wide.

Dr Adrian Gregson, Worcestershire World War 100 Project Manager, said: "The exhibition is a showcase of material which we hope will inspire local people to come forward with their own letters, diaries, photographs and stories. Once it ends here at The Hive, the exhibition will be toured around the county over the next four years.

"In this World War One commemorative project we are also building towards a collection of archives that the public will bring forward so that the full story of the war and Worcestershire can be told and held as a legacy for the future."

The exhibition has been part-funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Voices of War and Peace, First World War Engagement Centre and is free of charge.

Councillor Lucy Hodgson added: "This exhibition is a valuable way of keeping history at the forefront so that we remember how the Great War affected the lives of local residents across the county in many different ways."

The Hive will also be hosting a debate on ‘Have we forgotten the horrors of war?’ in November, as part of the programme, with the Royal Society of Arts.

For information on the full Worcestershire World War One Hundred programme visit ww1worcestershire.co.uk.