2018 Annual Report

Welcome

It’s been an incredible year to take the reins as Chair of the Board. This year we continued to raise Fife’s cultural profile locally and nationally.  We made the headlines with widespread media coverage for the opening of Dunfermline Carnegie Library and Galleries; for the new, state of the art Collections and Archive Centre at Bankhead, Glenrothes, and, lastly, for the 80th birthday of the Carnegie Hall.

The Dunfermline and Glenrothes projects were made possible thanks to Fife Council’s vision and long term strategic capital investment. In turn, this allowed us to plan further ahead, delivering considerable economic returns for cultural tourism and the creative economy across Fife. The Dunfermline Carnegie Library and Galleries has already attracted 200,000 visitors and the additional economic impact for the local economy is estimated at £500,000 a year.  The venue has also provided a platform to raise further investment. As a key member of the Dunfermline Heritage Partnership, we’ve successfully levered nearly £1 million from sources such as Scottish Enterprise, the Heritage Lottery Fund, Fife Council and the Scottish Government to develop heritage and tourism for Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy and mid-Fife. Such long term targeted investment shows what can be achieved. This is a great example of the successful partnership working that we support across Fife extending our reach and positive impact.

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As a Board we aspire to a longer term financial settlement to allow more effective forward planning and to complement the great strides we have made through our business and commercial development, increasing self-generated income, now nearly 40% of our spend.  We have also brought catering in house to complement these efforts, which allow us to continue to re-invest in the free of charge library and museum services across our communities.

We’ve made continued gains towards delivering the savings of £1.7 million required of us by Fife Council.  We’re advancing with new ways of doing business, and putting the customer at the centre of all our services. WorldHost training is improving customer service and our Libraries are asking over 2,000 people how they would like the service to develop, with work already started on a new vision for museums and heritage. We’re also developing an audience engagement strategy to increase the £2.5 million we already bring in from theatre sales.

I hope you enjoy reading about our progress during 2017/18 as we look forward to another successful year.

On behalf of the board I would like to thank all our staff for their dedication and professionalism throughout the year. We know how much their efforts improve the life of Fifers and we look forward to continuing to build on their achievements.

David Caldwell profile picture

Dr David Caldwell
Chair of ONFife Board

"We’re advancing with new ways of doing business, and putting the customer at the centre of all our services"

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Section 1

Our Organisation

Meet the team and learn more about our organisation, including our vision, mission, purpose and values.

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Section 2

Our Services

See what featured across our theatres, museums, galleries and libraries, and discover our commercial ambitions for the years ahead.

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Section 3

Supporting Fife’s Communities

Explore the ways in which our organisation has helped support Fife’s communities, from health and wellbeing to cultural tourism.

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Section 4

Finance

Take a look at our review of the year, our financial plans for the future and learn about the governance architecture.

April 2017

Large Project of the Year

Edinburgh Architectural Association

April 2017

Building of the Year

Edinburgh Architectural Association

June 2017

Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS)

RIAS Awards 2017 winner [1 of 12 awards]

June 2017

Scottish Government’s Client of the Year award

Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS)

Nov 2017

RIAS Andrew Doolan Award for Building of the Year

Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS)

March 2018

My Place Awards 2017 shortlisted

Scottish Civic Trust

March 2018

Civic Trust Commendation Winner

Civic Trust

April 2018

Community Benefit award

RICS Awards 2018, Scotland (Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors)

June 2018

DCL&G became the first attraction in Dunfermline to be awarded 5 stars in the Quality Assurance Scheme

VisitScotland

October 2018

Heritage Category

SPACES (Society of Public Architecture, Construction, Engineering and Surveying)

October 2018

Civic Building of the Year

SPACES (Society of Public Architecture, Construction, Engineering and Surveying)

November 2018

Best Heritage Tourism Experience finalist / award

VisitScotland Scottish Thistle Awards - Central, Fife & Tayside Region