Community groups across South Lanarkshire are set to benefit from a six-figure investment in developing culture in the region. A financial support plan to develop a new culture strategy has been outlined in a report going before councillors next week.
The money, to be spent over three years from 2026/27 to 2028/29, includes investment in five community projects this year. A total of £200,000 is to be issued as community grants, split evenly between Rutherglen/Cambuslang, East Kilbride, and Hamilton and Clydesdale, from next year onwards.
Strategy leadership and funding breakdown
South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture (SLLC), which runs all leisure and culture services for the council, will lead on developing the strategy, working with council staff. The culture strategy report, to be tabled at the community and enterprise resources committee on September 2, states: “We recognise that each town and village in South Lanarkshire has its own identity. This funding will provide for local community led activities and events sharing and celebrating heritage, local history, arts and culture.”
The funding is split across three workstreams. A total of £320,000 will go towards local community initiatives, events and activities over the three years, including £50,000 earmarked for year one projects. Another £30,000 is set aside for strategy development, including workshops and consultation, with the finished strategy due by December 2027.
Community grants and year one projects
On the community grants, the report states that £200,000 will be “issued directly to community groups to support local community led activities and events which share and celebrate heritage, local history, arts and culture.” It continues: “This funding will be split £25k per geographical area (Rutherglen/ Cambuslang, East Kilbride, Hamilton, Clydesdale) per year over two years (2027/2028 and 2028/2029).”
The report sets out five projects proposed for year one spending, totalling £50,000. A series of cultural roadshows, run with local community groups, is proposed at a cost of £20,000, aiming to promote existing services while gathering ideas for future spending. Two new Bookbug costumes, used in library reading sessions for young children, would cost £10,000.
A Museum on Film project would spend £5,000 installing screens in libraries and venues to show archive footage of past community life across the area. A Memory Match initiative, at a cost of £3,000, would create themed memory boxes to support older people’s wellbeing and reduce isolation in homes, libraries and care settings. A community film-making project called “Who Do We Think We Are,” provisionally costed at £12,000, would work with students or a freelance film maker to capture residents’ stories, with a possible film festival to follow in future years.
Next steps
A new temporary cultural development officer is also being recruited to lead locality-based cultural programmes across arts, museum and library services. Councillors are being asked to note the workstreams and timelines, and approve the year one spending proposals.
