Yorkshire Coast BID has pledged its support towards more than 35 projects taking place across the Yorkshire Coast this year to assist the local economy to bounce back following a challenging 18 months for businesses.
Over £500,000 was reserved to allow an expedited delivery of projects for when restrictions eased. The funding has been invested with local groups, organisations and local authorities to cover a variety of projects from transforming disused or underutilised spaces to events designed to drive footfall and highlight the cultural offer available in the different towns. Each one aims to help increase the staycation boom set to sweep the UK this summer.
Five of the below projects coming to the coast this summer include:
Big Ideas by the Sea Festival
The week-long festival is taking place at a variety of locations throughout Scarborough and has been created by Kane Cunningham and John Oxley MBE who like many others, locally and around the world, have been inspired by the history and beauty of England’s first Victorian holiday resort, Scarborough.
The festival will see world-renowned speakers and writers share their stories and inspiration including:
Future of Food
Should society have a moral position on food production, or should big businesses determine what we eat, is just one of the topics for discussion in what we are sure will be a lively debate!
Inspiring Women: Fuelling Future Businesses: What and how have women in businesses been able to make changes across a range of enterprises and start-ups will provide opportunities to hear from current and future female leaders.
All events can be booked direct, but if you are looking to be inspired and love where you live, joining in the Big Ideas by the Sea Festival is a must.
Kane Cunningham organiser said: “Our aim is to offer an event that stimulates people to think about the big issues, to include the environment, A.I., food production and the landscape, but also to think about the future and how this may look in 20 years’ time.
“Scarborough is well placed to accommodate such an event with plans to grow every year. So, we are looking forward to seeing people visit in person and to enjoy Scarborough’s hospitality.”
Whitby in Bloom
The dedicated team of volunteers have been transforming spaces in Whitby for years and the additional funding provided by the BID will build on brightening more access points through environmentally and Bee friendly planting.
In addition, a collaboration with Esk Valley Railway will see the improvements extended into Whitby station to provide new habitats for wildlife and a visual transformation for visitors using the line.
Welcome Ambassadors
In Whitby, Scarborough and Filey the team of Welcome Ambassadors are in place to help visitors to the area maximise their time and experiences. The friendly and informative team have received fantastic feedback from visitors, residents and businesses, who have been providing a positive welcome and their research on the ground is showing that over 94% of new visitors to the towns would definitely return. This project co-funded with Scarborough Borough Council, building on a number of local projects jointly funded which includes the Discover Yorkshire Coast Surprise Campaign, Scarborough Gift Card and the recent, Yorkshire Coast Soapbox, Filey edition taking place in September.
Clive Rowe-Evans, Chair, Yorkshire Coast BID: “By partnering with organisations and local authorities on joint projects, it not only allows us to spread our investment, but demonstrates that the private and public sector can work together for the good of visitors, residents and businesses. We aim to continue this style of partnership with organisations of all sizes and encourage those with ideas to enhance and improve their towns and villages to speak to us.”
Withernsea bike scheme transformation
This project follows on from the essential work carried out in lockdown, where the BID provided bikes for the selfless volunteers in Withernsea to help them deliver food parcels to the vulnerable. The intention was for the bikes, post crisis stage of the pandemic is to be transformed into a visitor product which has now be fully realised in the form of a bike hire, training and repair centre and café, named The Blue Door Pop-In.
BID investment into social organisations is about providing communities with the tools and assets required for new initiatives to be developed and it is a credit to The Shores Centre and its volunteers who have made this happen.
The Blue Door Pop-In is officially opening on 30th July 2021
Jayne Nendick CEO at The Shores Centre said: “The BIDs involvement happened at a critical time for us serving the community and we were committed to using this as a catalyst to create another experience for visitors.
“With the initial BID funding and inclusion as a bike repair centre on the Yorkshire Coastal Route due to be launched later this year, has enabled us to attract additional funders, including East Riding of Yorkshire Council which will now see the addition of a full bike library inclusive of electric bikes available to hire.
“As a social enterprise, all profits raised will be reinvested back into the town and we are looking forward to providing more opportunities for not only residents and young people, but also visitors to the town.”
Filey Bay 1779
The Bonhomme Richard, internationally renowned for its involvement in the Battle of Flamborough Head in September 1779, was discovered to have settled on the Filey seabed, close to Bempton Cliffs in 2019.
With BID funding, a local group has been able to take an important step to form a community interest group who are working on capitalising on this find of international significance for the benefit of the town and surrounding villages. There are ambitious plans being worked on with the first event series to commemorate the 242nd anniversary taking place in September this year.
Tony Green, Chair of the Filey Bay 1779 group, said “This year’s activities mark the beginning of an annual event leading up to the 250th anniversary of the battle in 2029. In addition, the group is looking at a maritime heritage centre and a Memorial above Bempton Cliffs for the 400 men and boys killed in the battle.”
This news follows an exciting roll-out of projects that the YCB have supported in 2021 so far such as the Scarborough Gift Card, ShopAppy, Yorkshire Coast Soapbox Filey Edition both supported for their ability to lock in local spend, aid businesses trade online and/or increase their digital presence and drive footfall out of season.
Speaking about YCBID’s investment and upcoming activity, Chief Executive, Kerry Carruthers said: “The portfolio of projects we are investing in focuses on providing visitors the best experience and multiple reasons to keep returning to the Yorkshire Coast, who we hope will stay for longer and ultimately, increase the revenue coming into the local area.
“Our investment in over 35 different projects throughout the area sees funds going straight back into the area, but it has only been possible due to the support of our BID business community. Without their funding, we would not be able to assist organisations to transform their areas, support new artist collectives using disused retail space or work with local artists and organisers to bring an event series attracting national attention such as The Odyssey in collaboration with Animated Objects.
“We thank the BID businesses for their continued support to making our innovative programme possible.”
Here’s a brief overview of some more of the fantastic projects and initiatives YCBID is helping to fund:
The Odyssey: With Animated Objects Theatre Company
This ambitious 3 year program of events retelling the tale of The Odyssey, the Yorkshire Coast way, has seen the first event series lighting up the coast and geo-location story trails. The “A Thousand Ships” installations will be touring throughout the Yorkshire Coast from the end of the month.
EV and Bike Repair Centres
The BID is partnering with local businesses throughout the entire area to install new EV charging points and bike repair stations to allow visitors and residents the opportunity to travel and see the area in a more sustainable way. This network of points due to be installed over the coming months will be part of the Yorkshire Coastal Route launching this Autumn.
Coastal Sculpture Collection
Working in collaboration with local sculptor Emma Stothard, a series of marine and wildlife pieces are being crafted to celebrate the natural beauty of the area. The first piece, the “Green Hairstreak Butterfly” is due to be installed at Spurn Point later in the month, which celebrates a local species and will naturally colour with its wild environment. Additional pieces are being designed in collaboration with local areas and landowners and will feature as a must see piece when visiting the Yorkshire Coast.
Scarborough Gift Card
With NYLEP and Scarborough Borough Council
The gift card has been a huge success so far with over 80 businesses, £50,000 cards purchased. The BID supported the campaign by encouraging all Scarborough businesses to get involved and support shop local.
ShopAppy
Free online shop for all businesses to be able to trade online to supplement their physical store sales. This was essential for businesses during lockdown to ensure they could keep selling their goods despite the shops not being able to open, but it is now being repositioned as a digital highstreets so people can see what’s on offer but encouraged to buy back on the high-street.
Park&Win
A brand-new initiative that launched in Bridlington, which provided 250,000 visitors parking in the town the opportunity to win great prizes from local businesses. This promoted feature is available to view via the Love Yorkshire Coast website and will be running until September 2020. This feature has just launched and has over 5,000 entries so far.
PLACE Exhibition: With Crescent Arts
The BID has partnered with Crescent Arts to curate 3 exhibitions over the next 12 months, working with local artists to explore different themes.
They will be taking over empty retail units in the town centre to bring a new experience to the high street in a playful and artistic way that is accessible and owned by everyone taking part. The first exhibition is live and in place at The Brunswick Centre, Scarborough.
