Alloway Tunnel Wins Community Award at Ayrshire Business Awards 2025
The Alloway Railway Tunnel has won the Community Award at the Ayrshire Chamber of Commerce Business Awards last Friday evening at a glittering award ceremony at Ayr Racecourse.
Sathish Srinivasan, Trustee who was delighted to pick up the award on behalf of the team said, “This award has given us a real boost and will encourage us to keep working hard on our local community project which we take great pride in."
The scale of the creative regeneration project is huge. It’s an ambitious, innovative 300m long mural. The outcome is a jaw droppingly beautiful interactive artwork for the community to enjoy and learn about Ayrshire history.
The unique storytelling using art, portraits, poetry, music, blogs, and short films makes it interactive, and visitors are enjoying hearing the authentic and personal stories of local people.
The scale and inclusiveness of community involvement has been the key to the success of the project. Over 2000 people have been involved so far including tunnel preparation work, mural painting, filmmaking, and writing blogs. Artist Chris Rutterford who leads the project has been inspirational in working with local people and getting the best out of them. The mural is so much more than the art you see, it's the impressive community involvement behind the scenes that makes it unique.
The project has provided opportunities for 200 Ayrshire College students to get relevant work experience to help them start their career and we are continuing to work with more students from across the College.
However, the main impact on the community has been civic pride. This old tunnel is gradually being transformed into a beautiful, safe destination venue – supporting the tourism industry and the local economy. The trustees are actively encouraging the community to use the active travel path and explore their local area. It’s uplifting, joyful and great for supporting health and wellbeing.
If you haven't been for a visit yet, now is a great time to explore with new artwork being installed by the end of October. The tunnel is opposite the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum on Murdoch's Lone, Alloway. Look out for our new signs showing the way!
