Formal City of Culture bid signed at ceremony
THE first formal document kickstarting Coventry’s City of Culture 2021 bid has been signed and submitted.
Councillor Lindsley Harvard, Lord Mayor of Coventry; Cllr George Duggins, leader of the council, and Cllr Linda Bigham, cabinet member for community development, signed the submission at a “thanksgiving” event at St Mary’s Guildhall this week.
The bid is being put together by Coventry City of Culture Trust with the city council as principal partner alongside The University of Warwick and Coventry University.
Most of the bid funding has been generated through private means, including The Ricoh Arena as bid sponsor and Jaguar Land Rover, Friargate, Coventry Building Society, the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, Birmingham Airport, Pertemps and CEF (City Electrical Factors) as bid development sponsors.
Over 60 companies have also given financial support as 2021 Club members. Many of those who have backed the bid witnessed the signing and heard from David Burbidge, chairman of the Coventry City of Culture Trust, and Rashid Bhayat, director of the positive youth foundation (PYF), with Nazareth Yacob, Tayyibah Mota and Louis Lewinson, young people who have worked with PYF.
Mr Bhayat said: “We want to win this for Coventry. You only have to listen to the young people in the city who are being inspired by what City of Culture already means to them and what it could mean if we managed to win.”
Mr Burbidge said: “The room was packed with people, the vast majori- ty of whom have backed Coventry’s bid to be UK City of Culture financially – either privately or through their business. We recognise that there are constraints on the public purse and that is why we have set out from the start to get the business community right behind our bid – and we are thrilled with just how much support we are getting.
“The city council has been fantastic, too, but it’s important that the people of Coventry know that this bid is by everyone and for everyone – including arts and cultural groups, individuals, community groups, business and the two great universities. Everyone is pulling together because they can see what this could do for Coventry both in 2021 and in the years beyond.”
Cllr Lindsley Harvard, Lord Mayor of Coventry said: “The whole city has united behind our bid to be UK City of Culture in 2021. The Coventry City of Culture Trust has done a great job and we are looking forward to seeing Coventry win.