A REPORT has highlighted both Bradford and Saltaire as prime examples of how UNESCO designations have added value to these areas.

Bradford became the world's first UNESCO City of Film in 2009 and Saltaire has been a World Heritage Site since 2001.

In the report produced by UNESCO, Memory Bank: Bradford is highlighted as a successful collaborative project between UNESCO City of Film and the Yorkshire Film Archive which uses archive footage of local places, faces, events and every day life in Bradford as a therapeutic tool for dementia sufferers. The DVDs are distributed to care homes and support services across Bradford.

Since being designated as a City of Film, Bradford has gone on to become part of the Creative Cities Network, involving co-operation with other cities around the world that subsequently gained such status.

A further collaborative project as a result of being a Creative City, is a partnership between Bradford Film School at Bradford College and Whistling Woods International that offers further and higher education courses in Film, Animation and Photography.

Councillor Val Slater, Bradford Council's deputy leader and heritage champion, said of the Memory Bank project: "We are very proud of this initiative which was launched during the Bradford International Film Summit 2015 as something that could be rolled out by other UNESCO Cities of Film worldwide."

City of Film director David Wilson said of the film school: "Becoming a UNESCO City of Film was critical in securing the funding and support for establishing this school. The connection with Whistling Woods International gives Bradford-based students the great opportunity to study in India as part of their course.

"We have also continued to develop and support existing links between between the TV production courses at the University of Bradford and major broadcasters in the UK including the BBC, ITV, Sky and ZEE TV.

"It was good that Bradford was nominated this year by other Creative Cities to serve as a global lead for Cities of Film and we are currently supporting prospective cities to strengthen their bids by adopting our successful model of using film as a vehicle to learn, make, enjoy and visit."

Certain World Heritage sites were also praised in the report for their programmes with schools, including Saltaire.

The report gives the example of local school pupils pitching new designs for the World Heritage Site logo in a Dragons' Den style competition, which supported their business studies education.

Cllr Slater said: "There is no doubt that UNESCO status has highlighted our assets on a global stage and has had wide reaching benefits for the local community in terms of tourism, creativity and education, which should continue well into the future."