Case Study: Brading, Isle of Wight

Brading is a small Isle of Wight Town with a huge amount of history and heritage; sited within the landscape of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Brading is a tourist destination; however it has never managed to attract the level of economic return or interest that other destinations on the Isle of Wight have. Visitors to Brading are often only short-stay and are unaware of what else the town and area offer, outside of the main attractions.

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Need for the project

During the Market Towns Healthcheck Appraisal undertaken by the community of Brading in 2003, two particular issues of interest were highlighted; firstly that more benefit could be made from those who visit the town, and secondly the support for developing Brading as a “green destination”. Projects are underway to address the “green” issue but so far there has been little activity carried out at a local level to promote the town, hence the need for this project.

The Project aims to implement a sustainable Tourism Project in Brading, which importantly involves the wider community of the town. The key aims of the project were:

Increase number of visitors, staying longer and spending more.
Make Brading in itself a first-choice destination for visits.
Improve information and interpretation in the town.
Encourage sustainable, “green” tourism.

This plan therefore was about making more of what already exists, providing better promotion and information, and adding value to Brading’s existing attractions. However the project also hoped to benefit the non-business community by helping to provide an identity for the town, and involving the community directly, thereby capacity building for the future.

Planning the Project

The Brading Hidden Britain working group was formed to undertake a project to address the issues raised by the Healthcheck and ensure a better and more vibrant flow of interest and economic return from visitors into the town and surrounding area, which in turn will ensure its survival as a multi-faceted community. The group itself consists of representatives from Brading Town Council, local businesses, and local residents.

In the spring of 2005, Hidden Britain attended a meeting with Brading Town Council to explain how they could assist in achieving the tourism objectives of the Healthcheck.

Research was gathered using visitor surveys, community workshops, tourism stakeholder meetings and business questionnaires. From this base data the local project group developed an action plan of tourism projects. All actions came forward as ideas proposed by local residents and stakeholders, with the support and guidance of the Hidden Britain SE project development officer.

In March of 2006 Defra kindly agreed a grant of £15000 to Brading Town Council for undertaking the project.

Project Outputs :

Design and produce a visitor dedicated website for Brading at www.visitbrading.co.uk

To design and produce an A5 28 page guide booklet to accompany the website.

To design and produce an DL leaflet based on the town heritage trail specifically aimed at families and children.

To undertake community engagement work that will facilitate the design of welcome signs for Brading that will stand at town gateways.

Implementing the Project

A group of volunteers was set up to work with business owners in the parish to create a new town guide and a new ‘visit Brading’ website. Volunteers were given I.T and photography lessons to help them with the project and worked with the businesses and attractions to write the guide, design adverts and create publicity material for them.

The businesses and attractions are extremely pleased with the outcome of the project as they have received a wide range of good quality free publicity which has encouraged visitors from across the Island and from the Mainland to visit Brading.

The volunteers are also very pleased with the website and town guide and are extremely pleased with the work they have completed. Not only have they learnt new skills which can be utilised in other community projects, they have also got to know one another much better, helping to develop more of a sense of community in the area.

A competition was run in the community to enable residents to design gateway signs to the town. Volunteers worked with the town council to create publicity for this competition and then helped to judge the designs. The winning designs have been incorporated into the final sign design by local architects and will be installed shortly. Residents are delighted with the final design and the competition winners are very excited about seeing their designs come to life when the signs are installed.

Young children were also involved in the Hidden Britain Project by designing a leaflet to accompany the town trail in Brading. The Heritage Lottery Fund granted the council £24,400 to install a town trail throughout the town but the trail boards were aimed at adults. The children therefore walked the trail and designed a children’s quiz so that children can walk with their parents and take part. They also designed a word search and colouring exercise for the leaflet. The young people are very proud of their design and positive comments have been received from members of the public about it.

Local Benefits:

In terms of tourism the project has delivered Brading a cohesive visitor package, which can be used to draw visitor in, inform them when they arrive, and interpret the surroundings in a meaningful way. The benefits from this will in main be to the local businesses by increasing visitor spend, however the community as a whole will profit through the boost this will give to the local economy.

However in delivering this project, a large cross-section of the community has been involved both in the production of materials and also through engagement as a part of the gateway project. As such the community of Brading have had a real say in how this project has been delivered and have derived benefits through this approach. A key benefit has been the increased confidence and capacity to undertake similar ventures, which has culminated in the production of a series of walks guides.

"This funding has enabled Brading to produce high quality publicity to promote tourism and assist local businesses in attracting extra custom without spending lots of money on advertising themselves. All in all, the community, businesses and visitors are very happy with the outcomes of this project!"