AN ARTS organisation will install a giant shoebox in the city's main square to give locals an insight into other people's lives.

The free pop-up exhibit, called A Mile in My Shoes, will appear in Worcester's Cathedral Square, tomorrow, ahead of the official opening on Friday.

People will be able to put on someone else's shoes inside the installation and then listen to that person's life story via headphones.

More than 150 audio stories, ranging from prostitutes to refugees, will be available while the exhibit is open between May 25 and June 3.

Local arts group The Company of Others has also recorded 20 life stories in Worcestershire to add to the mix.

Kitty Ross, director of the group, said: "This is the first of many exciting international projects that The Company of Others will be presenting in the region and sets a benchmark for the scale and ambition of work to come.

"A Mile in My Shoes is an extraordinary project and we are thrilled to be adding Worcestershire voices to the growing international collection."

The Empathy Museum commissioned the project to boost understanding about the difficulties many people face in their lives.

Worcester City Council has granted permission for the shoebox, which will be outside All Bar One, and a guide will be available to offer locals a helping hand to walk down the high street in their borrowed shoes.

A spokesman for the Empathy Museum said: "Each pair of shoes on the shelves belongs to the narrator of one of the A Mile in My Shoes stories.

"Customers will be invited to temporarily exchange their own shoes for a pair belonging to a stranger, before donning a pair of headphones and taking a walk with a stranger’s shoes on their feet and their voice in the ears.

"The simple act of slipping into someone else’s shoes and spending some time listening has the profound effect of connecting people with our shared humanity, and at a time when divisions are especially rife, building understanding and empathy."

When the exhibition in Worcester ends the shoebox will go on a tour, stopping in Manchester, London, Kendal, Brighton, Moray Firth and finally New York.

The project has received funding from various sources and will be open between 10am and 5pm.