A mouse and a van driver are helping to bring history to life for schoolchildren visiting Winchester's military museums.

The five Peninsula Barracks museums, off Romsey Road, have been awarded £10,000 from the Museums and Galleries Education Programme, funded by the South East Museum, Library and Archive Council, to develop a series of national curriculum-related activities for eight to 12-year-olds over the next year.

Archie is a mouse who befriends a young van driver, named Stan.

When Stan joins the army to fight in World War I, Archie goes on a quest to find his friend so he can stick by him through thick and thin.

The tale follows the pair through from 1914 to the Armistice of 1918, the 21 years of peace and the first two years of World War II.

Pupils follow a trail to find museum objects connected with the story.

Year 6 children from St Faith's School were the first to try Archie's Trail at the Royal Green Jackets Museum and were treated to a story-telling performance by Sitakumari, director of the non-profit organisation, Heartstone, which created the Archie project.

She said: " Through stories, we try to show the children that all people are the same, no matter where they come from - we all have hopes dreams and fears.

"Through human experience, we will ultimately look at racism, but we are not taking a heavy-handed approach."

Heartstone raises and addresses issues of racism and xenophobia through fiction and photo-documentary in the belief that it is possible to build understanding and respect between multi-national cultures.

It aims to develop a number of projects by building relationships with community organisations and other interested bodies who will co-ordinate events in their area.

The organisation worked with the Royal Green Jackets in their role as peacekeepers in Kosovo.