Medway narrowly misses out on the race to become the UK's next City of Culture in 2025, the government has announced today. With fierce competition from a record-breaking 19 other places this year, Medway was not one of the 8 locations selected to progress to the next stage of gaining the prestigious title. The longlisted locations are Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon as a trio, Bradford, Cornwall, County Durham, Derby, Southampton, Stirling, and Wrexham County Borough. Despite the decision, bosses at Medway Council, the Medway 2025 bid team and its board of trustees, supporters, and Medway's cultural sector pledged to "build on the momentum and enthusiasm" of the City of Culture process to create a "lasting step change in the role that culture plays in the area". Judges commended Medway's entry to the competition for recognising the role of culture in addressing challenges and transforming Medway, and were particularly pleased by its ideas for engaging and commissioning young people in the process. Medway also received strong praise for its "creative and compelling" approach, with themes and ideas that saw it place as a very close contender for today's longlist. "Medway has come together to consider the role creativity, heritage, tech and culture will play in the lives of young people here, our communities and our future." Although today's announcement will be seen by many as a setback, Medway City of Culture 2025's bid director, Imogen Robertson, reminds the area that "we have so much to be proud of" going forward. She said: "Bidding to be City of Culture has been a hugely positive experience for Medway and one which has brought about lasting change for Medway’s people and the future of the area. "Medway has come together to consider the role creativity, heritage, tech and culture will play in the lives of young people here, our communities and our future. "We have engaged a huge cross-section of Medway people in imagining change and there is genuine momentum and excitement about the new ways of working that have come about as part of this process and which will be taken forward by Creative Medway over the coming years." Creative Medway is the organisation that will deliver Medway's new arts and culture strategy over the next decade. It is hoped that during this time Medway will reposition itself as a "UK cultural hub, using its array of cultural assets" to help create social, economic and creative impact on a local to international scale. Fiona Watt, chair of Creative Medway, said: "Bidding for UK City of Culture has galvanised a true cross section of our communities from children through to elders and everyone in between to believe in and be proud of what Medway has to offer. "From the co-writing of Medway’s Cultural Strategy to the forming and building of Creative Medway, we know that we have strong foundations to still make this leap forward into a new future we can be proud of that will value and nurture the creativity of all of our residents". The strategy sets out to make Medway stronger and more resilient in response to current challenges that the area faces. Culture is seen as at the heart of defining Medway’s identity and building pride in the place, while allowing voices in the area's diverse communities to be heard, unlocking positive local change. It is expected that key themes and ideas that formed Medway's City of Culture submission will be taken forward as part of the cultural strategy. Previous winners of the City of Culture title have seen major cultural and economic boosts, including increases in tourism and investment.
Hull, which hosted the title in 2017, saw a projected £22 million gross value added to the local economy. Towns, cities and groups of towns - like Medway - were able to submit an entry to the City of Culture 2025 competition, which has seen whole counties apply. Other previous title holders are Derry-Londonderry in 2013 and Coventry this year. The winning location of the 2025 round of the competition is expected to be announced in spring 2022. Customers were welcomed into Hobbycraft's first store in Medway this morning for its long-awaited opening. The UK's largest arts and craft retailer has moved into the old Carpetright unit at Strood Retail Park, creating 18 new jobs. A grand opening event is taking place this Saturday (9 October) from 9am, with special offers and activities, including free goody bags to the first 100 customers. Hobbycraft's latest branch is stocked with a wide range of products and has a dedicated Custom Crafting area. This is a space that introduces the digital personalisation tool Cricut to customers for their own creative projects, as well as allowing customers to try out products and crafting techniques. At the centre of the store there is also an area that will host regular workshops and creative activities, which customers can book to attend through the Hobbycraft website. Boots was set to open a large store in the former Carpetright, which closed in 2018, although this never materialised and Hobbycraft took on the empty unit instead.
The retailer announced the news of its new Medway branch in April this year, and later revealed a revised opening date after it was initially planned to open in the summer. The store is open Monday to Friday 9am to 8pm, Saturday 9am to 7pm and Sunday 10am to 4pm. For more information about the new Medway store visit the Hobbycraft website or follow @Hobbycraft_RCR on Twitter. |
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August 2023
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