Description – SIMRA Social Innovation in Marginalised Rural Areas

Birnam Arts Centre

Starting Year:

Scale:Region:

MRA characteristics*: Intermediate Rural Area; 51.7% mountainous; ratio of all roads length to region area, 2.5; 22.7% of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion, 88% of people with access to the internet.

Location:

Sector:Topic:

Challenges addressed:

Improvement of services / infrastructures, Education

Description:

The Birnham Arts Centre is a multi-purpose arts, conferencing and entertainment venue in rural Scotland (UK), which is a community owned and run facility with charitable status. About 15 years ago an arts centre was established in former school buildings as a charitable trust. It has a strong social provision component running exhibitions and many after school classes in dance etc. It has extended its building to include a theatre and cafe and shop which are run as commercial subsidiaries which feed their earnings back into the charity.

Form:Actors involved:

Practices:

Networking, Training / Teaching, Social media, Public participation, Fundraising, Marketing & Promotion, Evaluation, Action-research, Workshops

Chair of board of trustees

Social change:

• It has hugely increased cultural provision and a study has been done of its economic impact which looks to be rather positive. • The centre has created something like 14 FTEs directly

Further information:

Website:https://www.birnamarts.com/

References:

* Information at the level of NUTS 3 or local regions.