Medway 2025 Launch its bid video – This is Medway
Medway 2025 screened its video trailer featuring community members and businesses from across the area. The showing was part of a special KMTV feature dedicated to exploring what Medway has to offer.
A still from the Medway 2025 bid trailer video
The live event – titled “THIS IS MEDWAY” – saw audiences tune in via television, Facebook and YouTube to witness the big trailer reveal, pose questions to the live guests, hear from locals and explore the benefits the bid would bring to the region.
The 2-minute video featuring chefs, a tattoo artist, Bhangra dancer and student gives a flavour of Medway’s diverse history and the area as a cultural destination. The video which was shot across the area’s towns and villages demonstrates Medway’s distinctive blend of rich heritage and modern, ambitious thinking and gives voice to local people’s enthusiasm for the bid.
Four local individuals who took part in the trailer film also joined the event as panellists, answering questions about Medway’s ambition to be UK City of Culture 2025.
Malachi Wilson (member of local hip-hop group CaGeNation), Maddie Springett (Student Engagement Officer at MidKent College and Co-Chair of Medway 2025’s Youth Engagement Working Group) and John De Rose (a former apprentice at the Chatham Historic Dockyard and now a volunteer there) were among those to discuss what it would mean for the South East if Medway were to bring home the title of UK City of Culture in 2025. This included the breadth of opportunities it would bring about for young people, a significant boost in business and tourism and bringing the national spotlight to this part of the country.
Jatin PatelJatin Patel, Co-Chair of Medway 2025’s Board of Trustees and Creative Director at Kalikas Armour, comments: “It was great to see so many people engaging with the Medway 2025 bid video as we prepare to submit out entry later on this year. This is a major moment for Medway and becoming UK City of Culture 2025 that would propel us forward, bringing opportunities for local people, visitors to the area and a significant economic boost. Hull was the last City of Culture back in 2017 and you can see the massive impact it had there. Over 95% of people living, working and studying in the area took part in the programme, businesses extended their opening hours and hired new staff. This is a chance to deliver a real and timely boost to the whole of Medway as well as bringing the title to this end of the country for the first time”
Dee Campbell, owner of Jerk Café in Strood, comments: “Medway is made up of so many diverse communities. Like the video says – we have so many stories to tell! As a local resident and business owner, I am hugely excited about the Medway 2025 bid and the opportunities it presents to people living, working and studying across the area. We have so much to be proud of here, despite the reputation that sometimes precedes us being City of Culture would well and truly put a new spring in Medway’s step. We have so much to be proud of here.”
To find the video on YouTube click here or use the QR code below. Do your bit to back the Medway 2025 bid by sharing it with your friends and family.
If you’re using a desktop PC, use this QR code to watch the video on your phone or share it with your friends!