Fish take to the streets of Alness as quirky Cashback for Communities programme uses proceeds of crime to fund performance art workshops
CRIMINAL activities led to some fishy goings-on in an Easter Ross town but happily there was no need for the police to get involved.
The head-turning appearance of a shoal of adult-sized fish on the streets of Alness put smiles on faces across the town.
It was the culmination of a dedicated programme which puts the proceeds of crime seized by police to good use for local communities.
The Cashback for Communities fund has had an impact in several Ross-shire communities over the years with a wide variety of projects benefiting.
After hosting specially arranged street theatre tuition, a group of young people from the town were joined by professional actors to take part in some live performances which were certainly hard to ignore.
Organiser Jonathan Davies, the arts practitioner from Eden Court Theatre in Inverness, explained that the group had lots of fun out on the street on some of the hottest days of the year to date.
“We’ve been working with a group of Alness young people through our Cashback for Communities programme and invited up Surge Street Theatre to teach them about street theatre,” he said.
“We rehearsed in the Alness leisure centre for three days and on the final day ventured out into Alness itself. No different to any other day – but this time we were dressed as giant fish!
“The young people have been fantastic and the community in Alness were wonderful and inviting. We had lots of fun, on one of the hottest days of this summer so far too.”
CashBack for Communities is a Scottish Government programme which takes money seized from criminals under proceeds of crime legislation and invests it in the future with programmes for young people.
Since 2008, £110 million has been committed to community initiatives to improve the quality of life of young people across Scotland.
