Arts, culture and heritage

Almost £550,000 of LEADER funding has been awarded to projects following the first round of decision making meetings with the Dumfries & Galloway LEADER Local Action Group.

Funding of £549,901.35 has been awarded to projects with a total value of £1,250,258.26. Supported projects were varied and include both The Whithorn Trust’s Iron Age Roundhouse which explores the history and heritage of the region, as well as farm diversification funding to provide an alpaca trekking experience!

The Big Lottery Fund's new Celebrate programme is now open for applications, with £575,000 funding for projects in Scotland.

Grants of up to £5,000 are available to groups to hold one-off events or activities which celebrate their local community.

According to research carried out for the Big Lottery Fund, six out of ten people cannot remember ever coming together to celebrate with their community.

This year's SURF Awards are open for entries in five categories.

These annual awards are open to any regeneration project in Scotland that is currently in operation or has been completed within two years of the September 2016 closing date.

The award categories are:

Connections Conference 2016

Dumfries & Galloway Unlimited is delighted to announce that their annual conference will take place at the newly refurbished Theatre Royal in Dumfries on Wednesday 31 August 2016, and promises to be their biggest and best conference yet.

Starting with a Funders breakfast in the morning, and including opportunities for skills development in the afternoon, their Regional Conference is the place to be to make new connections and get connected with the arts community in Dumfries & Galloway.

Step back in time for 1820’s family fun at New Lanark!

Visitors will be able to ‘step back in time’ and experience what life would have been like for a millworker living and working in the mill village in the 1820’s.

A wide selection of free activities will be available, including period dancing classes, music, crafts, games, storytelling and the Clyde 1 ‘dress up’ Photo booth. Throughout the day visitors will be able to enjoy Living History displays and perhaps even meet Robert Owen himself!

New Blue Deal workshop

This one-day workshop is an opportunity to discuss Scottish coastal communities, coastal economy and marine environment.

It wants to bring together:

  • Private, public, third-sector stakeholders representing coastal and marine issues in Scotland (incl. fisheries, aquaculture, energy, tourism, coastal management)
  • Stakeholders representing the interests of Scottish coastal communities (including local councils, coastal partnerships, community groups, business networks)

You will talk about:

Sarah Hyslop, Ayrshire LEADER Programme Manager, shares her experiences and reflections from the recent Swedish Rural Parliament event which took place in Visby, Gotland, Sweden from 27 to 29 May 2016.

The Amsterdam Rural Forum and National Rural Networks meeting brought delegates from across Europe to Amsterdam on 11 and 12 May for presentations, workshops, performances and even milk tasting!

This inspiring event was a chance to hear about innovative rural development projects making use of the arts and to reflect on how we, at National Rural Network Support Units, can be more creative in our work.

Photography Exhibition - Awaiting the Rapture

Taken over a two-year period, the photographs include a variety of scenic countryside locations, typically small parish churches and rural graveyards. We find such Scottish landscapes are commonly altered by an assortment of objects including family burial grounds, mausoleums, graveyards, grave markers, graves, mortsafes, monuments and tombs. These objects are carefully crafted and speak of a belief in a Rapture, when the body is said to rise up from the earth. The photographs show how this belief has impacted our landscape over the last few centuries.

Scotland is being represented at this week's Swedish Rural Parliament, one of the largest gatherings for rural development in Europe.

Bill Sturrock, a member of Angus LEADER Local Action Group, and Sarah Hyslop, Ayrshire LEADER Programme Manager, are being supported by the Scottish Rural Network to attend the event.

The Swedish Rural Parliament event takes place in Visby, Gotland from 27 to 29 May. The theme for 2016 is 'Towards a balanced country'.

Pages