Through the year-long, in-kind loan of two superb grand pianos, Blüthner Pianos supported and enhanced Absolute Classics’ 2021/22 performance and education activities in Dumfries & Galloway. The project brought world-class performance to Scotland’s remote communities and – thanks to C&BS Fund match funding – online, around the world.

With a shared ambition to inspire young people to understand and consider STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) and to make a meaningful contribution to Edinburgh’s communities, the impact of this ten-year long partnership has been significantly enhanced by match funding from the C&BS Fund.

Thanks to match funding from the C&BS Fund, not only was a brand new piece of music created – a piece emotive, relevant and highly accessible – but a short film recording its creation and performance was also created, providing a living legacy on the theme of climate change for both partners.

Thanks to an inspiring partnership and match funding from the C&BS Fund, visitors enjoyed exhibitions by 252 artists from 34 countries, and the Supported and Open Programmes element of the Festival saw audience visits rise by 26%.

Celebrating a project that more than reached its ambition to celebrate ‘people, place and performance’ by turning the spotlight on the community hall as a space in which to gather and unite and attracting a dazzling array of Scotland’s finest traditional musicians.

A vibrant community-based event that embraces the positive associations of light and hope, regeneration and rejuvenation, through an intriguing – and perhaps unexpected – culture and business partnership.

Thanks to the support of a local chiropractic firm, Dippy – the Natural History Museum’s Diplodocus skeleton cast – was supported on the Glasgow leg of his UK tour with a volunteer programme to deliver the public learning programme.