First recipient of a share of the £15,000 VisitEastbourne Fund is announced

The Friends of Eastbourne Seafront is awarded a grant of £2,461 from the VisitEastbourne Tourism Development Fund for a range of dog-friendly visitor initiatives which will be delivered throughout the rest of this year.

Capitalising on the growing trend of visitors holidaying with their pets, the funding will be used to research and create a new dog-friendly Eastbourne pocket guide which will appear both online at VisitEastbourne.com and in print, distributed by the Friends of Eastbourne Seafront welcome team, Seafront Office and Eastbourne Visitor Centre.

Alongside the new guide, a brand new Dog-Friendly Eastbourne award scheme will identify and promote venues that go the extra mile to provide excellent facilities and ‘pawsomely’ good service for visitors and their pet pooches.

To launch the new scheme, a photo competition will celebrate many of Eastbourne’s canine residents and visitors, while a seafront campaign for responsible dog ownership will promote the use of bio-degradable poo bags and a dog-friendly code of conduct.

The Friends of Eastbourne Seafront, a volunteer led group and members of VisitEastbourne, is one of six organisations successful in receiving grant funding after bidding for the money in the spring. VisitEastbourne will be supporting the dog-friendly project with online promotion, and details of further successful bids will be announced over the coming weeks.

Karey Whitmore from the Friends of Eastbourne Seafront said: “This is such an exciting and invaluable project for Friends of Eastbourne Seafront to be part of. Our team on the seafront are frequently asked for the location of dog-friendly cafés and the like. As the owner of three woofs myself I am well aware of the wealth of excellent dog-friendly provision Eastbourne has on offer and it will be great to have a mechanism in place so information on these facilities is readily available for everyone.

“It is also essential to promote responsible dog ownership and a dog-friendly code of conduct at the same time and we do hope that everyone will engage with the campaign.”

The VisitEastbourne Tourism Development Fund is a £15,000 pot to subsidise new initiatives which help to increase footfall and visitor spend in the town, along with opportunities to improve training, provide research, reach new audiences and support a cultural shift towards carbon-neutral business.

Applications were open exclusively to members of VisitEastbourne and funding has been made available by repurposing savings achieved following a gradual shift from traditional to digital marketing methods, as well as increased income generation from VisitEastbourne.com business membership.

An Eastbourne Borough Council spokesperson said: “We are delighted to announce the Friends of Eastbourne Seafront as one of the first organisations to benefit from the fund - a new and exciting funding stream to allow members within the industry to support VisitEastbourne’s overall objectives through their own campaigns and activity.

“The fund is all about partnership working and how by working together we can amplify our message to visitors and provide impactful results, showcasing the fantastic town that Eastbourne is and what it has to offer to wider audiences.”

Dog-friendly businesses looking to take part should contact [email protected].

For information on joining VisitEastbourne.com from as little as £99+vat per year, email [email protected] for details.