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Tayside businesses invited to learn about ‘big benefits’ of cultural partnership

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Posted 31 January 2019

Businesses from throughout the Tayside region are being invited to hear about the big benefits they could enjoy from partnering with cultural organisations at a special evening reception hosted in Perth by independent charity Arts & Business Scotland.

Taking place at 5pm on Wednesday 6th February at Perth Theatre, the event will give local businesses the opportunity to learn more about the benefits of sponsoring cultural projects and the huge positive impact creative partnerships between business and culture are having on local communities throughout the region and across Scotland as a whole.

One route for businesses to collaborate more closely with the cultural sector is through the Culture & Business Fund Scotland (CBFS), which provides match funding for business sponsorship of arts or heritage projects. Launched in April 2017, CBFS is managed by Arts & Business Scotland and is funded by the Scottish Government via Creative Scotland and Historic Environment Scotland.

A recent evaluation of the CBFS programme found that participating businesses have derived a wide range of benefits from cultural sponsorship. These include raising awareness of their brand, accessing new audiences and customers, creating opportunities for positive PR, demonstrating their corporate social responsibility credentials and developing local community links. In its first year, the CBFS programme invested more than £260,000 to support 38 creative partnerships. During this period, every £1 of CBFS investment leveraged £1.41 in business sponsorship, creating a total investment of £645,698 into partnerships located throughout Scotland

Attendees will hear first-hand from housebuilder Stewart Milne how the company has benefited from its partnership with Dundee Heritage Trust to deliver the hugely popular LEGO® Brick City touring exhibition to Dundee’s Verdant Works jute textile museum in late 2018. The Exhibition featured more than 60 Lego models of famous buildings from around the world, including a number of local Dundee landmarks and a scale replica of the newly opened V&A Dundee building.

Match-funded by the CBFS, Stewart Milne’s sponsorship of the exhibition enabled the company to engage directly with the local community surrounding one of its newest housing developments in the north of the city. This included working with a local primary school and challenging pupils to come up with their own LEGO® designs.

The free business reception at Perth Theatre has been organised by Arts & Business Scotland in partnership with Perthshire Chamber of Commerce, Culture Perth & Kinross and Horsecross, and is part of Arts & Business Scotland’s Culture & Business Fund Scotland roadshow. Since the launch of CBFS, the roadshow has visited locations across Scotland as far-reaching as Aberdeen, Benbecula, Oban, Paisley and Shetland.

Commenting on the forthcoming event in Perth, Arts & Business Scotland Head of Programmes Carl Watt said:

“We are bringing our Culture & Business Fund Scotland roadshow to Perth so local businesses can find out more about CBFS, how to apply, and the significant benefits closer collaboration between business and culture brings for all involved. By matching sponsorship from businesses, CBFS has, in its first year alone, helped to realise 38 cultural projects that might otherwise never have happened. In turn, the businesses involved have enjoyed big benefits from these partnerships such as raising their profile, engaging with potential new customers and giving their staff new opportunities to experience culture in many forms.

Stewart Milne Strategic Land Director Richard Fawcus, who will be speaking at the event, said:

“We were delighted to have been approached by Dundee Heritage Trust to sponsor the Brick City touring exhibition at Verdant Works from September to November last year. LEGO® bricks are a brilliant way to capture people’s imagination and to get particularly younger people thinking about architecture and design so sponsoring this particular exhibition was a perfect fit for Stewart Milne. It was an entirely positive experience, raising awareness of our brand locally and giving us a unique opportunity to engage with the people of Dundee at a particularly exciting time for the city as it continues to grow.”

Carl Watt concluded:

“We are very grateful to Perthshire Chamber of Commerce, Culture Perth & Kinross and Horsecross for their support in these events and to Stewart Milne and Dundee Heritage Trust for joining us to share their experience of creative collaboration, facilitated through the CBFS programme. We hope these events will inspire those Tayside businesses attending to consider the multiple benefits of partnering with the local cultural sector and creating more successful partnerships in the future.”

To book your place at the evening reception on 6th February, please email

Businesses from throughout the Tayside region are being invited to hear about the big benefits they could enjoy from partnering with cultural organisations at a special evening reception hosted in Perth by independent charity Arts & Business Scotland.

Taking place at 5pm on Wednesday 6th February at Perth Theatre, the event will give local businesses the opportunity to learn more about the benefits of sponsoring cultural projects and the huge positive impact creative partnerships between business and culture are having on local communities throughout the region and across Scotland as a whole.

One route for businesses to collaborate more closely with the cultural sector is through the Culture & Business Fund Scotland (CBFS), which provides match funding for business sponsorship of arts or heritage projects. Launched in April 2017, CBFS is managed by Arts & Business Scotland and is funded by the Scottish Government via Creative Scotland and Historic Environment Scotland.

A recent evaluation of the CBFS programme found that participating businesses have derived a wide range of benefits from cultural sponsorship. These include raising awareness of their brand, accessing new audiences and customers, creating opportunities for positive PR, demonstrating their corporate social responsibility credentials and developing local community links. In its first year, the CBFS programme invested more than £260,000 to support 38 creative partnerships. During this period, every £1 of CBFS investment leveraged £1.41 in business sponsorship, creating a total investment of £645,698 into partnerships located throughout Scotland

Attendees will hear first-hand from housebuilder Stewart Milne how the company has benefited from its partnership with Dundee Heritage Trust to deliver the hugely popular LEGO® Brick City touring exhibition to Dundee’s Verdant Works jute textile museum in late 2018. The Exhibition featured more than 60 Lego models of famous buildings from around the world, including a number of local Dundee landmarks and a scale replica of the newly opened V&A Dundee building.

Match-funded by the CBFS, Stewart Milne’s sponsorship of the exhibition enabled the company to engage directly with the local community surrounding one of its newest housing developments in the north of the city. This included working with a local primary school and challenging pupils to come up with their own LEGO® designs.

The free business reception at Perth Theatre has been organised by Arts & Business Scotland in partnership with Perthshire Chamber of Commerce, Culture Perth & Kinross and Horsecross, and is part of Arts & Business Scotland’s Culture & Business Fund Scotland roadshow. Since the launch of CBFS, the roadshow has visited locations across Scotland as far-reaching as Aberdeen, Benbecula, Oban, Paisley and Shetland.

Commenting on the forthcoming event in Perth, Arts & Business Scotland Head of Programmes Carl Watt said:

“We are bringing our Culture & Business Fund Scotland roadshow to Perth so local businesses can find out more about CBFS, how to apply, and the significant benefits closer collaboration between business and culture brings for all involved. By matching sponsorship from businesses, CBFS has, in its first year alone, helped to realise 38 cultural projects that might otherwise never have happened. In turn, the businesses involved have enjoyed big benefits from these partnerships such as raising their profile, engaging with potential new customers and giving their staff new opportunities to experience culture in many forms.

Stewart Milne Strategic Land Director Richard Fawcus, who will be speaking at the event, said:

“We were delighted to have been approached by Dundee Heritage Trust to sponsor the Brick City touring exhibition at Verdant Works from September to November last year. LEGO® bricks are a brilliant way to capture people’s imagination and to get particularly younger people thinking about architecture and design so sponsoring this particular exhibition was a perfect fit for Stewart Milne. It was an entirely positive experience, raising awareness of our brand locally and giving us a unique opportunity to engage with the people of Dundee at a particularly exciting time for the city as it continues to grow.”

Dundee Heritage Trust Development Officer Brian Kelly, also speaking at the event, commented:

“The joint support of Stewart Milne and the Culture & Business Fund Scotland enabled us to create a vibrant and exciting programme of events connected to the Brick City exhibition at Verdant Works. This included a local schools initiative, interactive workshops for toddlers and teenagers and a special late night event for adult LEGO® lovers. Overall, the exhibition was a resounding success and I know that Stewart Milne got just as much out of the partnership as we did.”

Carl Watt concluded:

“We are very grateful to Perthshire Chamber of Commerce, Culture Perth & Kinross and Horsecross for their support in these events and to Stewart Milne and Dundee Heritage Trust for joining us to share their experience of creative collaboration, facilitated through the CBFS programme. We hope these events will inspire those Tayside businesses attending to consider the multiple benefits of partnering with the local cultural sector and creating more successful partnerships in the future.”

To book your place at the evening reception on 6th February, please email events@cultureandbusiness.scot stating your name, job title and organisation.

 

Dundee Heritage Trust Development Officer Brian Kelly, also speaking at the event, commented:

“The joint support of Stewart Milne and the Culture & Business Fund Scotland enabled us to create a vibrant and exciting programme of events connected to the Brick City exhibition at Verdant Works. This included a local schools initiative, interactive workshops for toddlers and teenagers and a special late night event for adult LEGO® lovers. Overall, the exhibition was a resounding success and I know that Stewart Milne got just as much out of the partnership as we did.

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