Falkirk Arts Initiative receives £100,000 in funding to enhance Falkirk Town Centre

Written By Kevin Harrison

Celebrating new creative opportunities for Falkirk in Falkirk Town Centre with (from left): Lynsey Eckford - Regional Director, Ayrshire and Forth from Visit Scotland, Silvia Sinibaldi - Creative Programme Manager for Artlink Central, Stefanie Paterson - Assistant BID Manager and Elaine Grant - BID Manager for Falkirk Delivers, Ian Scott from Falkirk Local History Society and Kevin Harrison - Director of Artlink Central. Photograph by Julie Howden Photography.

Falkirk Delivers, in partnership with Artlink Central, has secured almost £100,000 of National Lottery funds through Creative Scotland to deliver Falkirk: From Place to Creative Space — a new arts and cultural initiative for Falkirk town centre.

The funding follows over a year of planning and development work to bring the proposal forward, and partners have expressed both pride and gratitude at securing the award.

The programme will support a range of creative activity within the town centre, including the development of one or more permanent public art installations, capacity building to support local artists to work in the town centre and play a role in animating the town with events and creative opportunity. The initiative aims to strengthen Falkirk's cultural identity, enhance the town centre environment and contribute positively to wider regeneration efforts.

Potential locations for public art have been identified following discussions with Falkirk Council Planning, Visit Falkirk and local historical representatives, ensuring that heritage, visibility and placemaking considerations are carefully reflected in the project's development.

Community engagement will play a central role in shaping the work. A public engagement session will take place at Trinity Church, Falkirk on Thursday 26th March from 1:00pm to 5:00pm. Residents, businesses and community organisations are encouraged to attend and share their views. Anyone interested in registering their interest can contact Artlink Central directly at info@artlinkcentral.org.

Elaine Grant, Manager of Falkirk Delivers, said:

"We are absolutely delighted and incredibly grateful to Creative Scotland for this award. This has been over a year in the making, with significant planning and partnership work behind the scenes, so to see it come to fruition is something we are very proud of.

We hope this marks the beginning of longer-term investment in arts and culture in Falkirk. Building a stronger creative network within the town will not only enhance the environment but also support confidence and civic pride.

Importantly, this initiative aligns well with the development of the new Town Hall by Falkirk Council, for which Artlink Central have played a supporting role in delivering inclusive engagement. We see this as a complementary step — creating momentum around culture and creativity in advance of that significant investment and helping ensure Falkirk is ready to embrace the opportunities it will bring."

Kevin Harrison, Director & CEO of Artlink Central, added:

"We are pleased to be working alongside Falkirk Delivers to deliver this important project. Securing Creative Scotland support is a strong endorsement of the ambition behind From Place to Creative Space. Public art and cultural activity can have a lasting impact, and we are looking forward to working with the community to shape something that feels authentic to Falkirk and creates a meaningful legacy."

Esme Leitch, Place, Partnerships and Communities Officer at Creative Scotland said: “This collaboration between Artlink Central and Falkirk Delivers puts Falkirk’s communities at the heart of the town’s cultural development. Artist-led work and creative activity play a key role in place-based regeneration efforts and, alongside the exciting developments within Falkirk town centre such as the new Town Hall, it’s great to see this work creating lasting benefits for local people, businesses, and the wider cultural community.”

A Steering Group is being established to guide the delivery of the programme over the coming months, ensuring collaboration across partners and stakeholders.

Further updates will be shared as the project progresses.

For media enquiries, please contact: ·

Elaine Grant, Falkirk Delivers: elaine@falkirkdelivers.com ·

Kevin Harrison, Artlink Central: kevin@artlinkcentral.org

NOTES TO EDITORS

[1] About Falkirk Delivers

Falkirk Delivers is Falkirk's Business Improvement District (BID), working to enhance the town centre through partnership initiatives, business support, and place-making projects. The BID represents businesses across Falkirk town centre and is committed to driving economic and cultural regeneration. For more information: www.falkirkdelivers.com

[2] About Artlink Central

Artlink Central is an inclusive arts charity based in Forth Valley, Central Scotland, supporting participatory arts and design, art in healthcare and social care, place-making, co-design and public art. The organisation coordinates arts partnerships and strategies across the region, championing accessible and community-led creative practice. For more information: www.artlinkcentral.org

[3] About Creative Scotland Open Fund

Creative Scotland is the public body that supports culture and creativity across all parts of Scotland, distributing funding provided by the Scottish Government and The National Lottery. Further information at creativescotland.com. Follow Creative Scotland on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. For more information: www.creativescotland.com/funding

Kevin Harrison
Kevin Harrison is the Director of Artlink Central, a charity and social enterprise designing creative experiences in conjunction with artists, public bodies and led by disadvantaged or marginalised people particularly in health, social care or criminal justice contexts. . Kevin joined the organisation five years ago and was previously Arts and Wellbeing Manager with Sense Scotland since 2006, supporting a Scotland-wide participation in the arts for disabled people with communication needs. Kevin managed the development of a range of arts projects including Threads and Found in Translation, projects exploring cultural diversity and disability, and Leaving New Craigs, a life history project in Inverness for people leaving the last long stay hospital in Scotland. He managed a national arts and wellbeing team and supported the establishment of a strong creative programme in the TouchBase, a new inclusive base for people and communities supported by Sense Scotland in the south side of Glasgow. Kevin who has a degree in theatre and film from Roehampton University and who undertook postgraduate studies in Arts Management and Policy at Birkbeck University of London is also a trustee for Scottish Prison Arts Network, chair of Dementia Friendly Forth Valley as part of a Dementia Services Development Centre (DSDC) programme. Previous posts include freelance editor and administration roles with key national disability arts organisation, Shape Arts and public sector roles in Arts Development and as Business Manager, Creative Academy, Slough Borough Council, supporting a multi-million pound EQUAL creative industries inclusion programme . He also has experience of managing Music 4 Slough, a Youth Music Action Zone.
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