Town centre plans get funding boost

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REDDITCH and Alcester have both scooped £10,000 from the Government to help revitalise the two towns.

The money has been awarded by the Department of Communities and Local Government to over 300 towns which missed out on funding through the Portas Pilot scheme.

As well as the cash, the Government has also announced additional support will be on offer to help get plans to regenerate town centres off the ground. It includes advice from the Association of Town Centre Management, regular meetings with other Town Teams to share tips and ideas and 'Crowdfunding' - a potential way to attract local investors and raise small amounts of finance to support their work.

Redditch Town Centre Partnership will use the money to produce a new town pocket guide to promote the town and provide useful information to visitors.

Ros Sidaway, director of Redditch Town Centre Partnership, said: "It's positive news and will help us further with our ambition to promote the town and in our efforts to revitalise the town centre."

Alcester Chamber of Trade and Commerce plans to use the funds to revive proposals included in its second Portas Pilot bid, with the focus primarily on expanding the town's famous festival programme, a rural cinema to boost the nighttime economy and an Alcester Apprentice project.

Sam Rath, chairman of Alcester Chamber of Trade and Commerce, said: "This is a fantastic result for the town. It just shows what can be achieved if you keep trying. It would have been easy to give up after the first disappointment, and even easier to throw the towel in after two failures, but we never gave up.

"The real work starts now. We need to re-mobilise the army of support we had for the bids and get on with turning our plans into reality."

Anyone wanting to get involved should email Sam Rath on Sam.rath@btinternet.com.

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