Investing In Small, Creative Businesses Can Bring Our High Streets Back To Life

"A great deal of city center space lies vacant, but it needn't be that way."

That's the opinion of Sally Reaper, co-director of Look Again, Gray's School of Art's creative unit, in an op-ed in the Aberdeen Press and Journal.

With that in mind, Look Again and Culture Aberdeen have teamed up to transform empty shop units in Aberdeen's city center into temporary retail spaces, art installations, and pop-up shops, all supported by short-term leases.

"One of the biggest challenges small businesses face are start-up rates," Reaper writes.

"Rents are often too high, and the legalities too cumbersome.

If we are to move forward from this problem, locally or nationally, there has to be a change to the rateable value.

Only by investing in our creative communities and by developing sustainable, affordable city center living and workspaces can we provide small businesses and creatives with the opportunity to be present in our city centers."

To that end, Look Again and Culture Aberdeen are working with local creatives, freelance artists, and community groups to "recode the city center, so that community groups have a bigger role, and so that we can bring the area's soul back," Reaper said. Read the Entire Article


Selected Grant News Headlines

A customized collection of grant news from foundations and the federal government from around the Web.

Impact Investment Strategies Unveiled in New Genconnectu Course by Vegtech ...

"The future is green, and it's ours to invest in." That's the takeaway from Elysabeth Alfano, CEO of VegTech Invest, who is offering an online course on "Impact Investing with Plant-based...more

Undergraduate Research Week Poster Competition Winners Announced

"This research pushed me outside my comfort zone and forced me to interact first-hand with hard truths about what social media is being used for in the modern day," Daisy Rehbock writes in her...more

An Evening Worth Its Weight in Art!

Quebec City's Mus ? 'e des beaux-arts du Qu'bec museum is getting a major boost from a single man. Michael Audain, chairman of the Jean Paul Riopelle Foundation, has pledged $10 million toward...more

Ford Fund Rebrands as Ford Philanthropy
Foundation: Ford Motor Company Fund

The Ford Motor Company's philanthropic arm is getting a new name: Ford Philanthropy. The rebranding reflects Ford's 75-year legacy of "driving impact in Ford communities around the world," says...more

Philanthropic Cause Takes Center Stage with Apo

Grace Reynolds, 17, sang "Landslide" in the style of Fleetwood Mac, while 11-year-old Rylee Campbell performed "Once Upon a December" in the style of Liz Callaway, but it was Reynolds who took home...more

Communications Officer Job with University Of Western Australia

Western Australia's University of Western Australia is looking for a new director of alumni relations, and the ideal candidate will be a woman with at least five years' experience in donor...more

P.B. Scott Named Ey'S Master Entrepreneur of the Year for Ja

"It's very nice to be recognized. It's an honor to be a part of something that's global." So says P.B. Scott, president and CEO of the Musson Group, after being named the Master...more

Margherita Therese Pappas Obituary

Margherita Therese Pappas was a singer and actor who performed in New York City, San Francisco, Amherst, and elsewhere before settling in Maui with her husband of 18 years, Miguel Sobel. Now...more

The Creative School Doctoral Student Presents Confluence: the Making of Home in Toronto

"There's an intense beauty in the experience of living in Toronto that I hope the viewers recognize in the work," says Francisco-Fernando Granados, a PhD student at the University of...more

Dance Project Brings Together School Pupils and Elderly People in Belfast

"There has been much laughter and plenty of chatter as friendships develop each week between the generations, forging stronger community connections and better awareness of some of the issues each...more





John Converse Townsend, a Forbes contributor, shares what can the private sector do for a social enterprise. He encourages social enterprises to reach out to corporations for help to scale up their businesses.