Linlithgow’s membership application was unanimously approved at a meeting of Cittaslow UK in Birmingham on Saturday 31 May.

This successful outcome marks the climax of over six months of hard work by local organisations, businesses and individuals. As part of the membership application process, we had to demonstrate our Cittaslow credentials in over 50 different areas and as noted in previous posts were visited by independent assessors from Cittaslow UK.

Celebrating this landmark achievement, Phil Murray, the Chair of the Cittaslow Linlithgow Steering Group, said,

“Becoming a Cittaslow town is a great achievement for Linlithgow and we now join a network of like minded towns that stretches across the world from Poland to Australia and from Norway to South Korea.

This is a great day for everyone who has helped to drive forward our membership application. A lot of people put a lot of hard work into securing Cittaslow membership. This really has been a community effort involving people of all ages from all walks of life in Linlithgow.

Personally, I would like to thank all my fellow Steering Group members for their enthusiasm and dedication over the past six months, as well as West Lothian Council and Scottish Enterprise who supported our application in so many ways. I must also thank all the individuals and businesses who helped make the visit by the Cittaslow UK assessors so successful. They range from the children of Linlithgow Bridge Primary School to our local councillors, MPs and MSPs. Everyone played an important part in Linlithgow becoming Cittaslow.”

Looking forward, Phil commented,

“Of course, joining the Cittaslow network is just one of the first phases of Linlithgow’s Cittaslow journey. We hope that Cittaslow status will act as a catalyst for new initiatives and renewed activities to make Linlithgow an even better place to live, work and visit. We look forward to working with the other Cittaslow towns in the UK and overseas to maximise the benefits that Linlithgow generates from its Cittaslow membership.”

Of course there is more to do now that we have cittaslow status, please log in for more information once it becomes available!

Thanks

Michael

CITTASLOW ASSESSMENT DAY IN LINLITHGOW

The sun shone, the birds sang and Linlithgow looked at its best as Graeme Kidd and John Fleming from Cittaslow UK visited the town to assess if it was ready to join the international Cittaslow network.

On what was a very successful day when everything seemed to go to plan, there were three main things that stood out for me.

First was the visit to the eco-school project at Linlithgow Bridge Primary School where frighteningly enthusiastic, knowledgeable and self-confident pupils welcomed us and showed us around all the different areas of their school where they are involved in environmental projects. It was great to see such a wide and impressive range of projects and I’m sure I wasn’t that self-confident at that age!

Second was the very real interest in Cittaslow expressed by all the local businesses we met on the day. It was very evident that Steering Group members have been very active in spreading the word amongst local retailers and other businesses and that there is genuine community support for Linlithgow becoming a Cittaslow town.

Third was the impressive turnout of local and national politicians during the day to welcome the Cittaslow assessors. I know that Graeme and John were somewhat stunned to meet the Provost of West Lothian, all local councillors for Linlithgow, the past and current local MP, and the two local MSPs all in one day. They were amazed to find themselves discussing Scottish food and education policies with a government minister. Everyone’s involvement demonstrated how much support there is for Linlithgow’s Cittaslow membership application at the highest levels.

Thanks are due to everyone who helped to make the day such a success. Now it’s fingers crossed for a successful outcome that will see Linlithgow becoming the 8th Cittaslow town in the UK and the 2nd in Scotland.

Douglas Ritchie

Cittaslow Linlithgow Project Manager