Meet the Kirkby Lonsdale Team behind Town of Culture bid

Marie Batty wrote much of the Kirkby Lonsdale bid to become UK Town of Culture in 2028.

Marie is from the Kirkby Lonsdale Town Team which was set up to secure funding and support projects that aim to generally improve the town.

“This bid belongs to every single person who calls Kirkby Lonsdale home – and to everyone who has passed through and felt something they couldn’t quite explain," she said.

“For nearly a thousand years this town has been a gathering place, and that spirit of welcome and belonging is at the heart of everything we are proposing.

"We will not simply follow the cultural script. We will rewrite it.”

To showcase what towns across the nation have to offer, the government launched the UK Town of Culture competition in January.

The winner of which will be awarded £3 million, with the two runners-up receiving £250,000 each.

Other Cumbrian towns, such as Kendal, have also applied to the competition, which follows on from the success of the UK City of Culture that has run for many years.

Kirkby Lonsdale's MP Lizzi Collinge also touched on the excitement such a competition brings to those who enter, and the opportunity it presents.

“It's brilliant to see towns in my constituency put themselves forward for the three different Town of Culture categories,” she said.

“Kirkby Lonsdale also has a really strong community, with lots of local groups making it a fantastic place to live, work and visit.

“I'm really excited by the bid and wish them the best of luck.”

Before naming the overall winner of the UK Town of Culture 2028, and the runners up, the government will select small, medium, and large town-size category winners.

Towns across the country have until March 31 to enter an expression of interest.