The outcomes of the prestigious 2025 SURF Awards for Best Practice in Community Regeneration were announced last night (04/12/25) at a celebratory presentation event in Glasgow’s Voco Grand Central Hotel.
Scottish Urban Regeneration Forum (SURF) were joined by over 280 guests to celebrate the 2025 SURF Award programme.
Representatives of the five category winning initiatives for 2025 were personally congratulated on their inspiring work by the Scottish Government’s Deputy First Minister, Kate Forbes.
The Alloway Railway Tunnel (ART) were highly commended in the Creative Regeneration Category along with the Galoshans Festival and the winners were ‘A Creative Approach to Revitalising Lochside’ (Dumfries & Galloway). Congratulations to Lochside is Families Together (LIFT D&G) for winning the Creative Regeneration Category.
ART Chair, Ron Ireland said, “These Awards provided an opportunity to celebrate the success of our project and to reflect on just how far we have come over the last few years. Creativity and collaboration have been at the heart of our community regeneration efforts, and I’d like to thank our project manager and artist Chris Rutterford, creative director Lubi Lykan, and the trustees and volunteers for all their commitment and remarkable achievements.”
The judges agreed that the Alloway Tunnel was a strong finalist due to its inspiring, life-enhancing transformation and genuine cross-sector collaboration. This community led project exemplified collaborative working, engaging local partners and providing meaningful development opportunities for students from Ayrshire College and local school pupils. Artist-led participation fostered connections with local heritage, as well as skills development. The sense of community pride and ownership over the tunnel was clear to the judges, as were the benefits to those involved in the creative process. Sustainability has been thoughtfully embedded, with income generation ensuring long-term resilience and supporting ambitions for further improvements.
Alloway Railway Tunnel would like to thank the SURF Awards for providing an opportunity to showcase, promote and learn from best practice from those working in regeneration projects throughout Scotland.
