INSPIRED by a song written by The Proclaimers, an event that has been three years in the making will take place in Clackmannanshire this week.

The Unwritten Letters Project will present a long weekend of art, music, poetry and talks looking at Scotland's migration stories past and present.

Launched by Rev Carol Anne Parker of Alloa Ludgate Parish Church and her late music partner, Rev Stephen Brown of the United Reformed Church, it will take place between Thursday, June 22 and Sunday, June 25.

Ms Parker said after her mother moved from Bathgate to Methil she was reminded of the chorus of 'Letter From America' by the Scottish band, joking that her next stop would be Irvine.

Appropriately this year marks the 30th anniversary of the release of the song.

The minister began to think about the historical migration mentioned within it and used her study leave allowance each year to do further research.

She said: "In a world where winners so often write the history, what might the silenced in Sutherland or indeed Bathgate have said if only they'd been given opportunity?

"What stories were never told?

"With so many people moving and migrating around the world in these days, our question feels to be burning.

"What stories can be read between the red-topped lines, the reports of 'swarms on our streets', the commands to 'halt the asylum tide'."

The project comprises a long weekend drawing in storytellers, poets, musicians and artists including acclaimed Syrian classical guitarist Ayman Jarjour and Professor James Hunter, an expert on the Highland Clearances.

Local school pupils from Park Primary have taken part by imagining what they would write in a letter to a child refugee and there will also be a photography exhibition.

A former music teacher, Ms Parker realised that she could still use her skills in her new role after she became a minister in 2009 and says that it's now a "core aspect" of her work.

Reacting to famine in the Horn of Africa region, she formed the band Thursday's Child with fellow musician Rev Stephen Brown in 2011 and quickly raised over £3,000 for Save the Children, performing from Cardiff to Tiree in church halls, community centres and even a castle.

David Bradwell, the Church of Scotland's refugee coordinator, said: "When I first spoke to Carol Anne about The Unwritten Letters Project, she reminded me about Scotland's own history of forced migration in the past.

"The connection between our past and the present situation for the tens of millions of people who experience war, human rights abuses, ecological disaster or abject poverty shows us that we have been here before.

"The refugee crisis is nothing new.

"Exploring these issues through music and poetry is important, as through art we can interpret and understand better some of the challenges and opportunities that forced migration creates.

"It helps us to see refugees not merely as statistics but as people, fellow members of the human family, with the same dignity as everybody else."

All events will take place at Alloa Ludgate Church and are free to attend, although donations will go to Save the Children.

Ms Parker's latest album Skin Over bone will be released to coincide with the Unwritten Letters Project with proceeds going to the same cause.

Programme of events:

-Thursday, June 22, 7.30pm – 'Where I eat my bread' with Brian MacLeod and classical guitarist Ayman Jarjour.

-Friday, June 23, 7.30pm – 'We were migrants once' with Professor James Hunter and songs by Carol Anne Parker (formerly of Thursday's Child).

-Saturday, June 24, 7.30pm – 'Bits of twig' with Rosa Idziak MacPherson and the UL Team.

-Thursday-Saturday, 10am-1pm – Exhibitions by Ian Collins ('Transient Landscapes'), Rhoda Meek ('A' Tilleadhh/Returning') and letters written by local children.

-Sunday 25 June, 10.30am – Worship 'All of us belong',