The outcomes of the prestigious 2016 SURF Awards for Best Practice in Community Regeneration were announced tonight at a celebratory presentation event in Glasgow’s Grand Central Hotel.
Representatives of the four category winning initiatives for 2016 were personally congratulated on their inspiring work by the Scottish Government’s Housing and Local Government Minister Kevin Stewart MSP.
The ‘leaf sheep’, a sea slug capable of generating its own energy via photosyenthisis, is the ‘face’ of the 2016 SURF Awards
The SURF Awards are delivered each year by SURF in partnership with the Scottish Government. The purpose is to highlight, celebrate and share the achievements of initiatives that address physical, social and economic challenges in communities across Scotland.
SURF’s panel of 18 independent judges are drawn from national bodies and community groups. They carefully assessed all of the varied SURF Awards nominations in four thematic categories, visiting 13 different shortlisted initiatives from Dumfries to the north of Shetland, before agreeing upon the outcomes.
The Category Winners
Creative Regeneration: The Stove Network (Dumfries). A collective of artists that manage a number of regeneration activities in Dumfries, raising more than £0.5m in funding to deliver many impressive culture-based projects including a new three-storey town centre arts facility.
Youth Employability: Street League (nationwide). A combined sport and employability programme that uses football and dance fitness sessions as ‘hooks’ to engage out-of-work young people and help them progress into employment, education and training.
Community Led Regeneration: Tomintoul & Glenlivet Regeneration Project (Moray). An umbrella of projects established by local community groups that have contributed to the Cairngorms area’s remarkable economic recovery, with increased tourism and employment.
Scotland’s Most Improved Town: Lochgelly (Fife). Named ‘Britain’s worst place to live’ in 2004, the former mining town has been transformed by a series of ambitious and collaborative initiatives in recent years, enhancing its physical appearance, pride of place, and external reputation.
Clockwise from top left: Tomintoul & Glenlivet; Street League; Lochgelly; The Stove Network.
The four winning projects all demonstrate the value of a long-term approach to regeneration, with dedicated partners working strategically and inclusively to develop comprehensive plans and deliver real and sustainable benefits for all.
In congratulating the winners, SURF Chair Pippa Coutts said the real value of the SURF Awards is in highlighting the hard work and dedication invested by people and organisations every day across Scotland to address deep-rooted challenges such as high youth unemployment, poor health and deteriorating buildings in many of our towns and neighbourhoods.
Read the Magazine
A publication highlighting the work of all winning and shortlisted initiatives featured in the 2016 SURF Awards is available for download below:
The SURF Awards event was attended by 250 guests from a wide range of public, private, and third sector organisations. Since 2003, the SURF Awards have been delivered by SURF in partnership with the Scottish Government. SURF is also grateful for additional support provided by Architecture & Design Scotland, Creative Scotland, Highlands & Islands Enterprise, Scotland’s Towns Partnership and Skills Development Scotland towards the delivery of thematic categories.
Winning project representatives collected SURF Awards from Kevin Stewart MSP
