Stamford Launches Bid to Become UK’s First Town of Culture
Mayor calls for community ideas to secure vibrant future for town
Stamford is aiming to be crowned the UK’s first Town of Culture, with a campaign that could bring in three million pounds to boost arts, culture and heritage.
The bid is being led by Stamford Town Council, with Mayor Amanda Wheeler urging everyone in the community to get involved and share their ideas.
She says fresh investment is vital for a growing town.
“In recent years, there's been a lack of investment and we've got a growing town with three thousand homes being built over the next ten years or so. We really need to look at creating a vibrant future for the town,” said Councillor Wheeler.
“We're at the talking to people stage and getting ideas in from everybody, and so I'm reaching out to all the community groups in Stamford and finding out what they'd like to see."
"In particular, I want to hear from young people in Stamford because I often hear that there aren't enough opportunities for young people.”
She added: “Stamford is a fascinating place for visitors to come to, but a lot of the people that live in Stamford don't think it has anything for them."
"I think making sure that we've got things that will appeal to people across all over the town is really important to me."
"If you go on somewhere like TripAdvisor, looking for ideas of things to do in Stamford, there aren't many suggestions that come up."
"So really creating more opportunities to actually do things in the town.”
The deadline for ideas is the end of March, with a shortlist for the UK Town of Culture competition due to be announced in the spring.