The SURF Awards are delivered each year by SURF, a regeneration forum with over 300 cross-sector member organisations across Scotland, in partnership with the Scottish Government.

Having assessed applications from Shetland to the Dumfries and Galloway, across five categories, SURF’s independent panel of 20 judges, drawn from national bodies and community groups, have agreed upon 15 shortlisted projects for 2022.

By category, they are:

Housing and Regeneration:

• Tomintoul and Glenlivet Affordable Housing (Moray)
• Taighean a’ Chaiseil (Isle of Skye)
• 21 Main Street, Wigtown (Dumfries and Galloway)

Supporting Youth Employability:

• “Kickstart” - Social Housing Creating Social Change (Dalry)
• The Larder (West Lothian)
• Elgin Youth Development Group (Moray)

Creative Regeneration:

• Alchemy Film & Arts (Hawick)
• Centrestage (Kilmarnock)
• Findhorn Bay Arts (Forres)

Community Led Regeneration:

• Montrose Playhouse Project (Angus)
• The Dornoch Hub (Sutherland)
• Bressay Development Ltd – Speldiburn (Shetland)

Improving Scotland’s Places:

• Kirkintilloch (East Dunbartonshire)
• Living Alloa (Clackmannanshire)
• Laurieston (Glasgow)

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 Shetland and up to Tomintoul.

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 Minister for Public Finance, Planning and Community Wealth, Tom Arthur MSP, on the evening of Thursday 8 December at the 2022 SURF Awards Presentation Dinner event in Glasgow’s Grand Central Hotel.

The 2022 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 and Skills Development Scotland.

SURF chair Brian MacDonald, said: “SURF delivers a number of programmes, but the SURF Awards are the jewel in our crown. We’re confident that the nominees can prove that hey’ve been able to use the power of their communities, their innovation and their commitment not just to win, but to highlight the significant number of activities that truly connect with people, so that they can deliver developments that are informed and are therefore most relevant to them.

The SURF Awards highlight the outstanding, and often unsung, work that goes on in communities across Scotland, often in times of adversity. This year we again face challenges which will impact on the work being done at a grassroots level. In these circumstances it’s probably more important that we highlight the significant work happening in communities in these most challenging of circumstances.”

SURF’s chief executive, Euan Leitch, added: “Our volunteer judges were faced with longlists of excellent projects and had the unenviable task of choosing only three to visit in each category. The final 15 projects are spread from the southwest corner of Scotland to its northeast tip and the judges now have the enviable job of visiting them to hear first hand how communities have delivered positive change. It will be a delight to welcome them all to the SURF Awards dinner in a Glasgow in December.”