TULIP TALK by Jan Whitbourn
After nearly a year of planning applications and consultation, I was delighted to unveil a new landmark mural in Spalding this week overlooking the bus station on the wall of the Sir Halley Stewart.
Originally designed to be added to Spalding Railway Station as part of a significant grant funded by the UKSPF Funding, and facilitated by the Lincolnshire Community Foundation, this mural was designed to honour our veterans and the fallen.
The artist did such a fantastic job and to see the transition from the initial sketch to implementation is incredible.
I popped along with some of Spalding United’s players and CEO Leigh Porter to see it.
We have already received so many incredible comments and initial feedback from residents and visitors alike.
The vice chair of the Royal British Legion, Ray Scott said, that the new mural was another highly visible memorial to the sacrifice of others.
When I first saw the drawings, I was excited to see such a beautiful display was going to be added to our local community.
It is great that the mural will be seen by so many people in it’s new home and it is another example of the lengths we go to as a community to remember the efforts and sacrifices of our forces.
Coun Paul Redgate said: “Spalding is a very proud community and we do a very good job at remembering and honouring our veterans and forces.
“This mural is just a small part of so many community initiatives that have been funded through the distribution of the UKSPF Funds by the Lincolnshire Community Foundation and what is important to get across to residents is that all of the projects which have received funding were all inspired directly by, and on behalf of residents.
“Sometimes we are asked who and how projects are funded and by giving this exercise to the Lincolnshire Community Foundation to facilitate, it took these decisions away from what we might have wanted as a council and allowed the community to put forward their own projects and initiatives.
“We’ve all seen the improvements at the Spalding Railway Station, there are multiple art works and new signage throughout Spalding town centre. The floodlights were upgraded at the Sir Halley Stewart Playing Field which sees such a large amount of people each week and we’ve also seen a new entrance installed at Spalding Rugby Club.”
Sir John Hayes was one of the MPs who had lobbied for funding for ‘left behind towns’ under the last Government. It was from that campaigning that the UKSPF funding was created, alongside the £20m Pride in Place fund that was also allocated to Spalding.
Sir John said he was delighted to see the legacy of the UKSPF funding being created all over the country, not just here in South Holland.
The UKSPF is to be discontinued by the current government in March and replaced by a Local Growth Fund which will be distributed by the Greater Lincolnshire Combined Authority and Mayor Andrea Jenkyns.
I hope the Mayor will continue to make some of these funds available for distribution through the Lincolnshire Community Foundation as these smaller, hyper local community projects have shown a real potential when it comes to improving the appearance of our towns and helping to act as a catalyst for local groups and organisations to grow into providing better facilities and services to our community.
We continue to work year round to provide regular events for our veterans community and we are always looking for people to join us at events and also additional volunteers.
If you know someone who has served in the forces and could benefit from regular meet ups with fellow service personnel, this Saturday sees the regular Big Breakfast Royal Anglian meet. If you would like to attend and be part of the event, please call 077798 953288 or email [email protected].
