INVESTING IN ALNWICK DRAFT STRATEGY

2020 – 2025

Prepared on 1st October 2019

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CONTENTS PAGE

Summary & Contact Details 3Foreword 4Introduction 5Purpose of Strategy 5Vision and Mission 5How the strategy has been developed 5What you told us 6Opportunities and Challenges 7National and Local Context 7The Outcomes we want to achieve 8 - 9What we will NOT be doing 9The Framework for our Vision and our priorities 10Alnwick – A vibrant and connected community 11Making it Happen 11Benchmarking 11What will Change 12Adoption 12

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SUMMARY

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This Summary provides an overview of Investing in Alnwick.

Investing in Alnwick is a Company Limited by Guarantee (Company No. 12268869). It has been set up for the renovation, restoration, regeneration and repurposing of buildings, facilities and environments along with the organisation of events and services within the town of Alnwick and its immediate vicinity. It has a simple aim of improving the social and economic health of the town.

Vision‘To make Alnwick a destination of excellence’

This will be achieved by a Board of Directors facilitating groups of advisors and interested groups in the delivery of projects that are individually defined in scope, budget, timescales and deliverables in advance of their commencement.

Its projects will focus on improving Alnwick by

supporting the people improving places repurposing buildings.

These projects will evolve over the 5year period and as such this Strategy sets out Investing in Alnwick’s initial ambitions.

For more information please contact Linda Wood-Mitchell, Chair of Investing in Alnwick

linda.wm23@btinternet.com or mobile 07592 401521

FOREWORD

Alnwick is undergoing exciting times and our Vision is to work towards making Alnwick a Destination of Excellence, that means having a Mission of delivering excellence in everything we do.

Alnwick is situated close to the A1 with easy road and rail links to Scotland, and the South of England. It sits at the heart of Northumberland in the North East of England with Alnwick Castle, Alnwick Garden and Barter Books being key tourist attractions. The district of Alnwick stretches from the North Sea Coast between Low Newton to Amble and south west to Elsden near Otterburn and takes in one third of the Northumberland National Park.

With new cafes, restaurants and shops catering to a new generation of residents and visitors, the town is now attracting leading companies to locate and invest in the opportunities that Alnwick has to offer, for example Premier Inn, Starbucks and M&S. Our focus will be to maintain this momentum and ensure that Alnwick town develops a commerce that encourages new enterprises to flourish in the town, supports innovation and delivers the supporting infrastructure to unlock growth and increase the attractiveness for visitors and residents.

This strategy is aimed at filling the gaps in the Town and County Councils delivery of projects across the area to ensure that all opportunities are realised for local people. We will build on what is currently working well and will build on the excellent skills that exist in Alnwick.

Through working in partnership and collaboration, we will bring people together, support each other to develop ideas for improvement in the town and with a focus on customer experience, the built environment, training and creating a skilled workforce we can enable people to fulfil their potential and develop resilience to the inevitable challenges. Additionally, by providing key information and support it will enable our community to come together to celebrate, improve and entertain.

The strategy aims to cover the period 2020-25 and responds to community feedback gathered over the past 12 months. It brings together key priorities, outcomes, challenges and indicators which will enable us to contribute to making Alnwick:

• A quality place to learn, work, play and live and where we will encourage investment which delivers new jobs and which enables our local economy to grow into an exciting cultural and safe experience where the spaces that matter to communities are improved.

• A place with a vibrant, connected voluntary sector which empowers and collaborates to develop community-led responses to the many challenges we face.

It sets out the outcomes we want to deliver and the priorities we will focus on to achieve them. We are not complacent and recognise there are significant challenges ahead. However, we are ambitious and confident that by working together with our partners/key stakeholders we can deliver on some of the ideas.

Thanks are sent to all the directors, advisors, partner agencies, volunteers and the community of Alnwick in the development of this Strategy.

Linda Wood-Mitchell - Chairperson

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INTRODUCTION

Our key priority is to ensure residents and visitors benefit from the transformation we all wish to see in Alnwick. We can only achieve this by working together, developing the talents and aspirations of our community, and by making Alnwick an exciting and vibrant place to visit, live and spend time in.

We need to build on the excellent reputation that Alnwick has developed over the years, as a place where tourists regularly visit to explore the Castle, Garden, Barter Books and Bailiffgate Museum and many other attractions whilst its residents enjoy the rural, peaceful location and close proximity to sea and sand.

PURPOSE OF THE STRATEGY

This strategy sets out our direction, the priorities/aims and outcomes we will focus on, and provides the framework for delivery that will guide Investing in Alnwick over the next 5 years.

It is based on a thorough analysis of local consultation of the economic, social, health and environmental needs and issues, and this provides the evidence base for our strategy.

Investing in Alnwick brings together key stakeholders in the town and provides a unified voice to tackling cross cutting issues and driving the delivery of agreed priorities.

VISION – To make Alnwick a ‘Destination of Excellence’

The strategy is an ambitious and compelling vision of the place that the community of Alnwick wants it to be. Our vision statement sets out the change we and the community want to see over the coming years and provides the foundation for our future strategies.

Our MISSION for Alnwick is therefore to help the town to be:

INNOVATIVE – a place which excels in tourism and is renowned for enterprise and innovation with a skilled workforce which delivers excellent customer experiencesCONNECTED - a place that is well connected, with a thriving, safe community CREATIVE - a place that draws people to its culture and creativityLEARNING - a place that nurtures local talent and provides exciting opportunities for people of all agesCARING - a place noted for its safe, community spirit where all people are welcome to learn, work, play and live

How the strategy has been developed

Regular consultation and engagement over the past year ensures that we have understood and documented the needs and aspirations of our community. Our consultation findings are informed by wide ranging methodology of meetings, focus groups, face to face consultation, social media and website/facebook responses and use.

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In summary, this is what you told us – Alnwick’s transformation.

We recognise that many of these aspirations of the community are better tackled by the town and county councils or other key stakeholder groups and indeed some ideas are already being addressed (as highlighted in grey) but through careful partnership working we feel able to impact in those areas which cannot be addressed by public/private agencies working alone. As such we will select those projects we feel able to tackle during the first year and will continue to consult with the community and partners to strengthen the organisation and build on our successes.

Community Aspirations1. Town Centre Transformation

i. Improved parking and Charging Points ii. Pedestrianised areas/ Narrowgate with street performersiii. Improved market area with regular entertainmentiv. Retail hubs/podsv. Sunday and bank holiday retail openingvi. Improve the bus stationvii. Improved Broadband/wifi

2 Aln Valley railway project – better connected3 Improved Recycling4 Alnwick Rehabilitation Village (for people needing short term social care)5 Alnwick Community Arts Venture6 Educational/Training opportunities/apprenticeships/tourism and customer service/gaps in

local training provision7 Alnwick Foyer8 Community Distillery9 Community Adventure Hub10 Improved entrances to the town and an Art sculpture trail11 Refurbishment of Buildings12 Improve Transport links into the town13 Ex-servicemen and vulnerable people support14 Alnwick Arch Climbing Centre15 Seasonal events

i. World Class Christmas Lights extending as far as the Oaksii. Polar Expressiii. Halloween event

16 Cultural celebration event on International Womens Day (March 8th) 17 Increased number of Street Social Events 18 Co-ordinated approach to events for the town/calendar19 Light up the Tenantry column in the Column field and increase usage 20 Good Food Guide21 Disability /Accessibility Map22 Local Carnival23 Tackling social isolation through a variety of methods eg arts and crafts24 Town Guides to meet and greet visitors and make them feel welcome to the town25 Encourage people to buy local and use local produce26 Reinstate the clock at the Corn Exchange

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27 Street Gym

Opportunities and Challenges

As an independent organisation Investing in Alnwick appreciates that many of the project ideas need key funding to achieve the transformation we all want to see and this will be a major challenge for us.

Alnwick is a great place to learn, work, play and live but our high street like many others is suffering from empty retail properties which affect the image of the town. We continue to search for ways in which the urban street environment can be improved,

We feel there is a genuine opportunity to work together with partners, stakeholders and the councils as well as other public and private sector agencies to meet the aspirations of the community and to provide a more cohesive and integrated approach to improvement. The volunteering, skills, experience and ambition within the team is consequently our key strength.

With excellent tourism attractions, Alnwick is a great place to do business but there are major challenges around parking, perceived anti-social behaviour both in the town and on the outskirts as well as the reduced spending power of many people and the development of the out-of-town retail outlets forcing some town based small businesses to consider closing.

We also recognise we need to do more to keep our young people in the town by creating better social spaces as well as promoting greater training and employment opportunities.

Although Alnwick is not generally seen as disadvantaged, there are deprived pockets of inequality, unemployment and key challenges of poor lifestyles for some families.

Alnwick is a safe place for most residents and the fear of crime is relatively low. We need to continue to build trust among local people that agencies will deal with the issues that matter most to all communities.

NATIONAL AND LOCAL CONTEXT

This continues to be a time of challenge and change in terms of voluntary sector funding and there has been significant reductions in funding over the past 10 years. Additionally, all public sector agencies are currently funded at lower levels and as such their resources are stretched. Other government reforms may also have a major impact on local people and organisations.

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THE OUTCOMES WE WANT TO ACHIEVETo achieve good outcomes we will focus on delivering two priorities/aims which will help to make Alnwick:

1. PLACE - a great place to learn, work, play and live through ambitious, cultural placemaking and making better use of our resources

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Challenges to ensure Alnwick is promoted as a place for investment, economic growth and

employment opportunity for local people. to tackle anti-social behaviour and reducing the fear of crime through the correct routes to improve the cultural experience for residents and visitors by broadening the appeal to

a wider range of people

OUTCOMES Support the continued development at gateways into the town through improved

landscaping (Year 1) Light up the tenantry column in Column field at specific times of the year and aim to

improve usage (Year 1) Establish an art attack on empty shops through the display of public local art on screens

in the shop window frontage (Year 1-5) Erect pieces of artwork structures as part of an art trail into town (Year 2-5) Explore opportunities for improved recycling Establish a disability/accessibility Map for the town

Indicators Number of gateways addressed Number of structures erected Number of weeks the column is lit Number of shops involved in the art attack Improved recycling opportunities Disability/accessibility Map developed and distributed accordingly

2. PEOPLE - a vibrant and connected community of which the voluntary sector can collaborate and lead in decision-making processes to ensure Alnwick is a place of opportunity

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Challenges to improve employment opportunity through increased training opportunities strengthening the resilience of people and families with complex needs such as

poor mental and physical health and drug and alcohol problems. maintaining the independence of older people and people with disabilities for as

long as possible and safeguarding vulnerable adults and children. community cohesion - addressing underlying causes that prevent communities

from becoming cohesive and integrated working extensively with voluntary partners to enable them to come together and

collaborate with the private and public sector to tackle shared challenges, support people to become more resilient and reduce reliance on local services

These aspirations and outcomes are not exhaustive and will be developed over the 5 years of this strategy and beyond. We will aim to update the Strategy annually based on community feedback.

WHAT WE WILL NOT BE DOINGInvesting in Alnwick will NOT be delivering those services that should be delivered by the Town or County Councils but we would hope to compliment Council services and in many cases we will work in partnership with the council to achieve the best outcomes for the town. We are also NOT a lobby group of persons working on behalf of or strongly supporting any particular cause.

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OUTCOMES Promote the town as a place of learning (increased apprenticeships) for customer

satisfaction, tourism and leisure management through discussion with colleges, universities, NCC, town council and health training providers (Year 1)

Develop a website and co-ordinated approach to a what’s on guide and keep the community well informed (Year 1-5)

Regularly meet with partners/stakeholders to discuss outcomes and for the voluntary sector to take a lead/ work together on key projects (Year 1-5)

Celebrate our cultural heritage through an event held on International Women’s Day (March 8th) to highlight successful women in business in the arts/cultural field in Alnwick (Year 1 initially)

Explore/promote affordable housing opportunities

Indicators Number of students supported via apprenticeships Website hits and responses Number of partnership meetings held and satisfactory solutions agreed Successful event held on March 8th

THE FRAMEWORK FOR OUR VISION, OUTCOMES AND PRIORITIES

We have ambitious plans for delivering real change in Alnwick and to see it develop for its community. We want our residents and visitors to benefit from the opportunities this strategy can provide.

This strategy sets out how we will work together to develop Alnwick as a thriving, successful place, to enable our people to achieve their full potential and ensure our communities are empowered to play a full part in making decisions and delivering priorities at all levels. The diagram below shows the partnership framework for delivering our outcomes and priorities over the next 5 years.

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Investing in Alnwick - Board of Directors x up to 12

THE COMMUNITY Aspirations

Investing in Alnwick Advisory GroupsAlnwick CastleAlnwick GardenAlnwick Garden TrustAlnwick in Bloom Alnwick PlayhouseAlnwick Town CouncilBailiffgate MuseumBarter BooksChamber of TradeCommunity and Residents GroupsDuchess High SchoolEnvironmental Interest GroupsFreemen of AlnwickHospice CareIndividual interested residentsLocal interest groupsLocal LivingLyonsNHSNorthumberland County CouncilNorthumberland Development TrustsNorthumberland Estates Northumberland Youth ParliamentOutskirts representationPrivate Sector – traders/businessesRotaryRound TableTourism Groups

Any of these advisors to be invited to meetings as appropriate to successful project development

The key outcomes we want to deliver is for Alnwick to be known as a place with a vibrant and connected voluntary and community sector. To achieve these outcomes we will aim to build cohesive and strong communities, connecting residents, local groups and community organisations.

ALNWICK- A VIBRANT AND CONNECTED COMMUNITY

We want our community to be the driving force of our town, where we come together to discuss,work together to make decisions, sort out problems, improve our surroundings, celebrateand entertain each other.

We want community driven, neighbourhood-based actions that are developed from the skills and assets in the community (building on our growing reputation for excellent community development).

We want to be known as the community that goes that extra mile, looks out for the neighbour, volunteers within and for the town.

We want Alnwick’s community to feel enabled and empowered to participate and influence the things that matter most.

We want to see better co-operation between public, private and voluntary sectors delivering SMART innovative services.

MAKING IT HAPPEN We will:

make every attempt to build-up the new company, support new Directors and Advisory Groups seriously consider the advice of the Advisory Groups and aim to influence others where we are not

able to achieve outcomes through our own actions seek funding and work with our partners over the forthcoming 5 year term of this strategy monitor progress and review performance against our indicators on a quarterly basis promote and encourage innovation, collaborative working and robust community engagement aim to deliver outcomes that make a real and valued difference to people’s lives in Alnwick seek to integrate resources and deliver mechanisms across partner organisations in order to

maximise efficiency and achieve best value

The Directors will hold responsibility for making it happen and ensuring that the outcomes are achieved to the best of their ability.

BENCHMARKING

‘Investing in Alnwick’ recognises the importance of Benchmarking as a process of measuring the performance of a company’s, products, services, or processes against those of another similar company that might be considered to be the best in the industry, aka “best in class.” We see great value in identifying the internal opportunities for improvement, by studying companies with superior performance, breaking down what makes such superior performance possible, and then comparing those processes to how the company operates. As such we will seek out those organisations to help us to implement changes that will yield significant continuous improvements.

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WHAT WILL CHANGE

• The community and visitors will enjoy a much-improved experience.• Alnwick will feel more vibrant• Investors will consider Alnwick as a thriving town to relocate or start a business• Our young people will decide to stay and grow in Alnwick and it will become an exciting town in

which to live and work Alnwick will become a Destination of Excellence

Dated Adopted ________________________

Signed by Directors

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