Strangers who became our best friends

Jan 12 2008 by Laura Davis, Liverpool Daily Post

As Liverpool enjoys the Capital of Culture celebrations, Laura Davis catches up with those who made it happen

BEFORE all the squabbling, before Robyn Archer came and went and the Fourth Grace became nothing more than a pipe dream, back in the days when Liverpool One was still the Grosvenor Henderson development and Everton was still moving to Kings Dock, a group of strangers visited Liverpool.

Their task – to select a short-list of cities vying to become Capital of Culture in 2008 – was one that the people of Liverpool took seriously, stopping them in the streets on their fact-finding walk through the centre of town and asking if they had yet made up their minds.

In many of the 11 competing cities, the judges had gone unnoticed by the public, but here, thanks to a strong media campaign, people were more likely to recognise their faces than those of their local MPs.

Liverpool’s residents, young and old, rich and poor, those born in Merseyside and those from elsewhere who had chosen to make it their home, were at the centre of the city’s campaign.

Bid leader Sir Bob Scott needed a simple way of demonstrating this to the judging panel, led by Sir Jeremy Isaacs, so he came up with the simple idea of presenting a roll call of supporters from different professions, backgrounds and faiths.

They did not need to make rousing speeches, they just had to stand in silence on a stage in Picton Library while their names were read out.

When Liverpool’s victory was announced, Isaacs said as well as an exciting programme of events, a strong cultural infrastructure and wealth of listed buildings, it was largely due to local people’s obvious enthusiasm for the title.

Some of those involved in the roll call have now moved on – former chief constable Norman Bettison and ex-Fact director Eddie Berg among them – but many still live and work in the city.

Here, on the weekend Liverpool launches its Capital of Culture year, some of them consider whether their aspirations for 2008 are on their way to being realised.

Phil Hayes, head of The Picket

BACK then I hoped that, with a little self-interest, that the venue I was then running in Hardman Street would flourish, so I appeared as a witness to support the bid and we started doing everything we could.

I made two compilation CDs of Liverpool bands, from Cilla to the Zutons, and sent them out to people to get them to support the bid. I sent them to MPs, to the Arts Council, national bodies and even when Jeremy Isaacs met with some of the arts community on the Royal Iris ferry, I presented him with one.

I sent loads of the bid badges out and the late, great John Peel wore one on Room 101 with Paul Merton. I was really excited about the possibility of it and then, in 2003, I was lying in bed listening to Radio Merseyside and we won. I literally jumped out of bed, ran downstairs and hugged my wife and the kids and was really chuffed.

Unfortunately, the building where The Picket was got sold and we were made redundant and it was a contrast with the excitement of getting the bid.

Me and my colleagues spent two years fighting for our existence, searching around Liverpool for a premises for The Picket to be held in (finally settling in a converted warehouse on Jordan Street). It’s been a tough battle and not something I anticipated doing after the bid was won.

What I am excited about is that Liverpool Vision and the Northwest Development Agency that own the buildings round here are currently undertaking a study to see if they could establish a cultural trust that would take over the running of the buildings. This could become a new, independent cultural district.

Gillian Miller, director of the Liverpool Comedy Trust

THE announcement that we had won was amazing. Everybody had been saying that Newcastle would win so the thrill was amazing.

I had worked in Liverpool for 20 odd years and we were always struggling from year to year and that really made us realise that we were going to be around until 2008. It meant you could start to plan and to relax really, and start enjoying what you were doing for a few years.

For the city I hoped for the transformation of its image nationally. It’s a place where people come and say what a fantastic city it is and go away with positive stories, but it’s just getting them to come in the first place. We knew it would bring lots of people into the city and they would go away and tell all their friends about it.

I don’t think we’ll know if it has worked until a couple of years down the line.

Steven Yip, founder of children’s charity KIND

WE WERE very excited because of the potential of winning a major European cultural prize and we were hoping it would have a lasting effect, especially from our field which is children, on the children of the city and Merseyside. I’m still hoping that and I think Capital of Culture will be a successful year but I don’t think it will a successful year because of anything that the establishment will do. I think that’s been a complete fiasco and I think we should hang our heads in shame over that. The people of the city will make it successful.

The children are aware of what’s going on because there schools have been involved, but in the main I don’t think it’s something that’s caught their imagination yet. It’s a great opportunity for us. Our kids will have an opportunity to realise that we’re not just a city but part of a European community.

Simon Osbourne, National Trust Liverpool property manager

BACK then there was a sense of anticipation and I was a little bit unsure as to what the Capital of Culture would hold not only for the National Trust but for the city. I was a bit anxious but excited at the prospect that the city would be selected.

There’s almost certainly going to be an influx of visitors to the city and the profile of Liverpool has been raised to a height never seen before, very much in a positive sense. I can see the benefit working in two ways, both in terms of inward investment and people visiting but also a heightened awareness within Liverpool citizens of what they have on their doorstep and want to show it off.

The annual general meeting of the National Trust is being held in Liverpool for the first time ever in 2008. I went down to London to sell the city and I didn’t have to try hard at all. There was so much awareness within National Trust members, who come from all over the country, about what Liverpool had to offer. Their issues were how can we get there, where can I stay, how much is it going to cost. They were very positive questions rather than negative ones.

I want to go and see more of the fringe events and those that are taking place in local communities. I think the mainstream events in the city centre will have tremendous appeal, but I think the lasting legacy is going to be how Capital of Culture touches the lives of those on the fringes of the city, in their own community centres.

lauradavis