A bold vision is afoot for Eastleigh Town in bid for Town of Culture
Together We Make Eastleigh partners have unveiled their ambitious vision for its bid for Eastleigh to become the first Town of Culture: celebrating the town’s remarkable history of innovation, community spirit and creativity while looking firmly to developing something new and sustainable for the future.
Together in partnership with Eastleigh Town Council, Eastleigh BID, Hampshire County Council and Barton Peveril College and in collaboration with Community First, and Eastleigh College, Eastleigh will be entering an Expression of Interest alongside other towns across the UK, by the end of March.
The town’s bid aims to create a lasting legacy, not just for a cultural year, but for the next generation by building stronger partnerships and establishing the physical and social infrastructure needed to support a thriving creative economy. Exciting new partnerships are already being made with organisations such as the Hampshire Air Ambulance who have recently made Eastleigh their new operational home.
Ideas featured in the bid have been inspired by the cultural DNA of the town centre, from humble agricultural beginnings, through the powerhouse of the Victorian railway age, the spirit of innovation with the first Spitfire taking to the skies from Southampton Airport, and the global connections strengthened through the Pirelli cables manufactured locally.
We’ve made the first steps - are you ready to help?
As the bid progresses, the partners will be asking the people who make Eastleigh the vibrant town that it is, to join them in creating an authentic and forward-thinking future of innovation and creativity and to grow a sense of place and pride, because Together - We Make Eastleigh.
If you wish to be involved or have an enquiry about the bid, please email [email protected]
The Town of Culture bid forms part of the wider Together We Make Eastleigh project, Birthed at the end of Covid and later guided by Wayne Hemingway MBE and Urban Movement, funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and supported by Eastleigh Town Council, Eastleigh BID, and Hampshire County Council, Together We Make Eastleigh, is an exciting partnership project aiming to shape the future of Eastleigh Town Centre.
Inspired by the success of the flagship UK City of Culture, UK Town of Culture is the Government’s a brand new DCMS competition. The competition aims to spotlight the cultural contribution of towns to our national story. Towns have been invited across the UK to enter the competition to showcase original storytelling, and empowering, accessible culture.