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The power of community regeneration is set to be celebrated at the upcoming SURF Awards. The event is taking place in Glasgow’s VOCO Grand Central Hotel on Thursday, December 5^th. The ceremony will showcase examples of community regeneration projects across the country.

For the last three years, SPA has been a proud supporter of the SURF awards, recognising the impact that strategic and focused investment has on regenerating places leading to community growth and development. As well as sponsoring the event we are on the judging panel reviewing all of the incredible award submissions and hearing about the efforts across the country.

It’s a privilege to be involved in an awards programme that aligns with the values of SPA. The SURF awards are putting the spotlight on inspirational community projects by rewarding best practices and innovation that improve the well-being of individuals and communities. Offering a valuable opportunity for these projects to demonstrate the importance of their existence to funders and other partners to secure the long-term sustainability for projects of this nature.

The Scottish Government’s Minister for Employment and Investment, Tom Arthur, will present awards on the night. This year there are 5 categories:

• Housing and Regeneration
• Removing Barriers to Employability
• Creative Regeneration
• Community Led Regeneration
• Improving Scotland's Places

In support of SURF and the awards, over the years SPA has allocated time to be part of the judging panel with the difficult task, along with others, of assessing the applications and collectively agreeing on the shortlist. This year Heather O’Donnell our Technical Support Manager, was assigned the judging role.

SURF is Scotland’s Urban Regeneration Forum. It advocates for Scotland's disadvantaged communities. SURF operates as a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee. The company is steered by a voluntary board made up of senior representatives from its member organisations.

Since it was formed in 1992, SURF has operated with two basic principles:

• Successful and sustainable regeneration is only achievable when all aspects of physical, social, economic and cultural regeneration are addressed holistically.
• The people who are the intended beneficiaries of any regeneration effort must be meaningfully involved in the process if it is to be successful in planning, implementation and maintenance.

The forum acts as a great platform for exchanging ideas and best practices, SURF sparks innovation and drives forward innovative solutions to complex challenges.

SURF’s main aim is to transform the lives of Scotland's disadvantaged communities creating a brighter future for the most vulnerable in our societies. To achieve this aim, SURF creates a platform for members from all of Scotland’s sectors, that have an interest in Scottish community regeneration, to share best practice experience and knowledge on aspects of the topic. This acts as a catalyst for debate about policies and practices that govern facets of community regeneration in Scotland. Also by lobbying the government on community regeneration, SURF can keep the topic high on political agendas. Working in partnership with Scottish Government allows SURF to have a strong avenue to direct critical feedback as it can help mould policies delivered in parliament.

There is a synergy between SPA and SURF as we also have an aim to enact positive impacts on communities across Scotland. We have been able to support change in Scotland’s most deprived areas through our Community Benefit Fund which has directly supported over 27,000 people in Scotland. Through different means, the two organisations want to see our nation’s most deprived areas undergo renovation and we see the benefit of supporting projects that can have this effect on their community.

We eagerly anticipate the SURF Awards and look forward to hearing about the incredible stories that have come from the nominated projects. By recognizing and celebrating these remarkable projects, we hope for key decision-makers to find inspiration and conceive new projects that will have a far-reaching impact on Scottish communities.