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Birkenhead residents, workers, students and visitors are being invited to share their ideas as the town develops its bid to become the UK's first Town of Culture in 2028.
Birkenhead Culture Partnership, which brings together community partnerships across the area needs residents to take part in a public consultation by answering a short questionnaire.
The questionnaire gives locals the chance to share what matters to them in Birkenhead, and what they would love to see happen in the future. You can even suggest events, activities, and projects for if Birkenhead's bid is successful.
Birkenhead has the honour of being shortlisted as one of 15 towns up for the first UK Town of Culture title. The town has £60,000 to help develop its bid, and is one of two towns in the North West to be shortlisted.
Birkenhead's bid will need to be finished by 5 pm on November 30.
The winner will be named as the first Town of Culture in 2028 and will get £3 million to develop cultural events to represent it.
An online question is now open for locals to share their opinions.
Craig Pennington, Bid Director and Co-Founder and Chief Executive of Future Yard, said: “Birkenhead has an incredible story, but this bid isn’t about a small group of people deciding what a year of culture should look like. We want to hear from the people who live here, work here, create here and spend time here."
“What makes the town special to you? What stories should we be telling? What would you love to see happen? The bid is still developing, which is exactly why we want to hear from people now. What they tell us over the coming weeks will become an important part of what we put forward.”
Alongside the online questionnaire, residents of all ages can contribute their ideas through specially designed postcards, where they can write or draw their vision for Birkenhead's potential year as Town of Culture.
The postcards will be available throughout October at locations including Williamson Art Gallery, The Hive Youth Zone, Eureka!, Future Yard and Wirral libraries. They will also be distributed through schools and youth organisations to ensure younger voices are represented.
Local artists, creatives and cultural organisations will also be invited to put forward projects they would like to develop as part of the proposed programme.
Councillor Paula Basnett, Leader of Wirral Council, said: "Birkenhead's greatest strength has always been its people, whose creativity, commitment and community spirit shape the town every day. Reaching this stage of the Town of Culture competition is a fantastic opportunity to shine a spotlight on those people, places and activities.
"Being named the UK's first Town of Culture would give us a national platform to tell those stories, showcase what makes Birkenhead unique and importantly to use them to create new opportunities for local people and communities. That's why I'd encourage everyone to get involved and help shape the bid."
You can complete the short questionnaire until October 28, when it will close.
