Live Borders boosted by significant Grant Award through Creative Scotland’s Performing Arts Venue Relief Fund

Live Borders is delighted to announce that the Heart of Hawick is to benefit from a grant of £68,147.

Heart of Hawick is a significant part of the cultural infrastructure in the Scottish Borders providing a cinema, small-scale theatre space for touring companies, live music, comedy and the spoken word; and of course home to Alchemy Film & Arts and its annual film festival.

While the cinema remains closed due to Covid-19 restrictions, this grant award will support the return of key staff back to the Heart of Hawick to develop an exciting range of multi art activities that includes bringing the Heart of Hawick Waterwheel back to life fusing heritage and local archives with moving image, to activate a historical cultural artefact currently inaccessible. And we are delighted that this work will be undertaken in partnership with Alchemy Film & Arts who are based in Heart of Hawick.

There are also Christmas plans to work with a team of independent freelance Scottish-Based theatre practitioners to bring live stream performances of an especially-created new work, A Scottish Christmas Carol, with ambitions to stream it into local care homes bringing a little bit of Christmas Magic back into everyone’s homes, even when we can’t attend in person.

The Award from the Performing Arts Venue Relief Fund is a great boost to Live Borders and to Heart of Hawick.

Jane Hogg, Director of Commercial Services, commented:

“This is a very significant boost for everyone involved. We will be able to begin work with local partners such as Alchemy and work with a number of our other communities in the Borders to participate with us.

It will be exciting to work with our Heritage and Archive Team to develop stronger access to the collection through community engagement, workshops, talks and tours. After a long lock down this award helps to bring some culture and joy into homes right across the Borders.

I would like to thank Scottish Government and Creative Scotland for this funding, that will bring the arts and culture back out to so many people.“

The Heart of Hawick Café is open and welcoming visitors, and offers a great selection of coffee or tea, cake, tray bake, cold drink, crisps or confectionery.
A one-way system and social distancing between tables is in place to keep you safe and food is pre-packaged to avoid handling.

Opening times: Heart of Hawick Café is open 10:00-15:00 – Tuesday to Sunday.

Live Borders is a charity. Every penny you spend with us is reinvested into supporting active, creative and healthy communities in the Scottish Borders.