Building a vibrant town centre and sense of pride in Yeovil with community
Released On 5th Mar 2024
Yeovil Art Space and Love Yeovil would like to thank partners and community members in supporting the Yeovil Lantern Parade this year. Joining forces with Yeovil Country Park, and supported by Yeovil Town Council, the event was well attended by nearly one hundred people from the Yeovil community.
Part of the commitment from both organisations, in receiving funding from Somerset Council, is to support the Yeovil Refresh regeneration project. Working together to create a long-term plan to improve the look and feel across the Town Centre and to provide a positive experience, building a sense of pride with Yeovil communities and attracting visitors from further afield.
“There are a lot of things already happening, which we heard from our consultation. We don’t need new things, but we just need to do better in collaboration, connecting our community by joining effort and resources. We have shared ownership of the town, that means we all need to do it together.” said Alice Edmonds from Love Yeovil.
Yeovil Art Space and Love Yeovil have been working together for a number of years. From Yeovil Window Wanderland, Cultural Days, the artwork displays on empty shops on the high street, the recent Christmas Light Switch On and the Lantern Parade. Together, both organisations continue to support local authorities to deliver events in the town centre that welcome communities across Yeovil and those from further afield.
Natasha Rand, Engagement Director for Yeovil Art Space and Yeovil Champion for Connect Somerset said,
“Working in partnership helps organisations and community driven groups to really co-create events with and for the people of Yeovil. By collaborating we are able to join the dots, add value to each other's programmes and help to build a town that serves the wants and needs of all.”
Plans for the next 12 months are underway, the organisations will continue to support the local community by bringing art and culture activities to the existing town wide events, such as SuperSaturday and the Christmas Light Switch On. A new ‘Creative High Street’ Programme is in development to offer year-round pop-up, meanwhile use and public realm artworks in the town centre with artists, creatives, partners, businesses and communities involved.
Zoe Li, Executive Director of Yeovil Art Space has said:
‘Our charitable aim is to bring arts and culture to Yeovil, utilising our Town Centre location. Funding from Yeovil Refresh will allow us to work strategically with partners to develop a long term plan, gather wider resources. We have to work beyond the funding and resources from the council because it is going to be challenging. But this is exactly why it is important for us to come together now, there are examples up and down the country to prove art and culture can be a driving force for social change, supporting the well-being of our community and local economy.’
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