Create Berwick: Our Assets, Strengths & Opportunities

Berwick is brimming with potential for growth and revival, with a strong focus on culture, creativity, and heritage. Backed by thorough research and input from the Berwick community, local businesses, and key organizations we know we can make Berwick one of the most distinctive, must-see cultural destinations in the country.

Here’s what makes Berwick a standout location:

• We’re up in the northern tip of England, right next to the stunning Northumberland Coastal Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
• We have a rich history as a border town, and our heritage is a treasure trove just waiting to be explored.
• We’re smack dab between Edinburgh and Newcastle, offering an affordable and beautiful lifestyle for residents and visitors alike.
• Our location can attract people from all around, including North East England and southern Scotland, up to Edinburgh and further afield.

We’ve got a lot going for us in culture and heritage:

• Our rich cultural heritage and plenty of assets, plus a range of organisations doing fantastic things in the town.
• Our thriving community of artists and craftspeople, paving the way for Berwick to become a creative hub through teamwork and shared resources.
• Our well-established film, media, literary, and music festivals that keep growing and bringing in more visitors.
• Our historic town centre is a designated Conservation Area, and we plan to give it a fresh look with some heritage-led rejuvenation.

The future looks bright for a creative Berwick:

• We’ve got the potential to grow even more, thanks to our beauty, quality of life, unique heritage, and blossoming cultural scene.
• With Create Berwick we can attract more visitors, whose spending will boost the local economy, support businesses, and create jobs.
• We’ll make Berwick a magnet for creatives, drawing in both new and established artists, makers, and craftspeople.
• Berwick’s young people will find an appealing future here, with affordable workspace and housing, great transport links to major university cities, and ample creative opportunities

Create Berwick will serve the whole town and will be physically located in the town centre where we will:

• Invest in the creative and cultural sector
• Breathe new life into vacant properties
• Create accessible creative space
• Help artists find affordable workspace.

We’re confident that by 2027 Berwick will take its place among the UK’s most distinctive, must-see cultural destinations.
Our lively, creative town will attract thousands more visitors each year from UK and international audiences, hosting a growing community of artists, and a prosperous local economy and town centre. Our people, communities and businesses will thrive as their ingenuity and collective endeavour create new opportunities by bringing Berwick’s heritage to life.

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