We are looking for a Community Engagement Worker to lead our new Creative Community Engagement Programme. You will be joining a highly motivated and experienced team which is planning to expand over the coming year and be part of one of the most exciting community regeneration projects in Scotland. 

Following a successful Crowdfunder campaign to raise money towards the purchase of three High Street buildings, Midsteeple Quarter, a Community Benefit Society, are pleased to announce the purchase of 109 and 111 High Street.

Midsteeple Quarter recently announced a huge step forward for the regeneration of Dumfries High Street, with the redevelopment work of ‘The Oven’ (135-139 High Street) which commenced on Monday 8th March.

As part of our recent Crowdfunder campaign, we commissioned local artist Jakob Kaye to create an innovative and changing artwork that demonstrates the support of local groups, businesses and individuals for the Midsteeple Quarter project. Jakob has created an isometric monolith which features buildings within the Midsteeple Project, incorporating the names of all the wonderful people and businesses that donated to our Crowdfunder over the course of 4 weeks.

Midsteeple Quarter has been highlighted in a Scottish Government report released on Tuesday 3rd February, which looks at the importance of town centres in Scotland and key ways in which they can be made stronger.

In the last of our Learning Resources, we’re exploring Dumfries High Street and thinking about what it was like to live there many years ago.

One of the buildings we plan to buy with the Crowdfunder is 111 High Street. A lot of people know this building because it has a very unusual feature – three stone heads that look down on all the passers by on the High Street! We don’t know who installed the heads or why. What do you think?

To celebrate the birthday of Scotland’s National Bard, we are delighted to share with you a blog post on the life of Robert Burns, written by Doonhamer, John Ivision. Now living in Canada, John writes for the National Post newspaper in Canada. He recently published The Riotous Passions of Robbie Burns, a fictional account of the poet’s time in Edinburgh.

As part of our Crowdfunder campaign to raise money to go towards the purchase of 109, 111 and 121 High Street, we’ll be sharing Learning Resources online every week and to celebrate Burns’ Night, our first learning resource is all about Scotland’s National Poetry and what his life was like in Dumfries.

We are urging Midsteeple Quarter supporters, local businesses and fellow Doonhamers from wherever they are in the world to respond to an urgent appeal and come together as a town to support our Crowdfunder to raise money to purchase the three remaining empty buildings within the Midsteeple Quarter.