Although Thornbury Town Council was not shortlisted for the inaugural Town of Culture competition, the Council is proud to have taken part in the process. With almost 400 applications submitted from towns across the UK and just 15 shortlisted, the competition attracted an exceptionally high standard of entries.
In his letter to applicants, UK Town of Culture Chair Sir Phil Redmond CBE described the response to the competition as "overwhelming" and praised the "exceptionally strong and diverse range of applications" received from across the country. He encouraged towns to view their participation as part of a continuing journey, recognising the value of the work undertaken by communities to tell their stories and celebrate what makes their towns special.
The Council congratulates the shortlisted towns and looks forward to hearing which town is named the overall winner, along with the two runners-up.
Mayor Helen Ball said:
"Our bid had our community at its heart and sought to build on the fantastic voluntary activity that already exists in the town. It was built on working in partnership with local people and organisations, with a focus on developing our cultural offer to celebrate and include everyone in Thornbury, particularly our young people and new residents.
What the process did provide us with is some fantastic ideas, some of which we can still aim to take forward. We are now going to take some time to investigate what is still possible, although clearly on a much smaller scale than the £3 million first prize would have allowed! We are proud that we rose to the challenge of bidding for Town of Culture and now look forward to delivering as many of our ambitions as possible."
Thornbury Town Council would like to thank everyone who supported the bid and contributed their time, ideas and enthusiasm. The Council remains committed to working with the community to celebrate and develop Thornbury's cultural life and to turning many of the ideas from the bid into reality in the years ahead.