Delivered each year by SURF, a regeneration forum with over 300 cross-sector member organisations across Scotland, in partnership with the Scottish Government, the SURF Awards showcase success in responding to regeneration challenges in communities across Scotland.

Having assessed applications from Lewis to the Scottish Borders, across five categories, SURF’s independent panel of 20 judges, drawn from national bodies and community groups, have agreed upon 15 shortlisted projects for 2021.

By category, they are:

Housing and Regeneration:

• The Old Police Station, Langholm (Dumfries and Galloway)
• Affordable housing at former school on Abergeldie Road, Ballater (Aberdeenshire)
• Step Up – Step Down at the Telford Centre (Fort Augustus)

Supporting Youth Employability:

• Eat, Sleep, Ride CIC (Scottish Borders)
• The Larder (West Lothian)
• Move On: Employability Fund (Glasgow)

Creative Regeneration:

• Museum of Things (Maryhill)
• Toonspeak Young People’s Theatre – Recovery Programme (Glasgow)
• RIG Arts (Greenock)

Community-Led Regeneration:

• The Furniture Project (Stranraer) LTD (Stranraer)
• Greener Kirkcaldy (Fife)
• Bridgend Farmhouse Community Hub (Edinburgh)

Scotland’s Most Improved Place:

• Remaking Saracen (Glasgow)
• Regenerating Fraserburgh (Aberdeenshire)
• Ochiltree (East Ayrshire)

Since 1998, the SURF Awards have identified successful regeneration projects of all sizes from across Scotland. This year‘s shortlisted projects feature major place-making investments, youth employability initiatives, and activities delivered by community groups and arts organisations in both urban and rural contexts, from Dumfries and Galloway to Fraserburgh.

This year the Awards will return to a physical project visit format, and the judging panel will be carrying out visits throughout October to all of these diverse projects to develop a better understanding of their impact and the situations they are responding to. Before deciding on a winning project in each category.

The five category winners will then be announced by Scottish Government minister for public finance, planning and community eealth, Tom Arthur MSP, on the evening of Thursday 9 December at the 2021 SURF Awards Presentation Dinner event in Glasgow’s Grand Central Hotel.

The 2021 SURF Awards are delivered by SURF in partnership with the Scottish Government, with additional support from Architecture & Design Scotland, Creative Scotland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Scotland’s Towns Partnership, Scottish Federation of Housing Associations and Skills Development Scotland.

SURF chair Kate Wimpress reflected: “The work of all the SURF Award entrants has been vital in keeping communities connected, resilient and forward thinking across these most challenging of months. It is extremely heartening for SURF and our independent panel of judges to have received a raft of new entrants for all our award categories, even with groups and organisations across the country operating at full pace to address the impacts of the pandemic. Celebrating what works, and why it works, through the SURF Awards programme is a key strand of our work and is, arguably, of heightened importance this year.”

SURF’s new chief executive Euan Leitch said: “As we continue to live through very challenging times it’s heartening to see community based regeneration projects deliver such positive outcomes for the people they work with. SURF are already looking forward to sharing the learning from all the nominees for fellow practitioners, funders and Scottish Government about how best to support communities, driving forward the positive changes that the pandemic enabled.”