THIS week we learned that Durham is one step closer to securing the UK City of Culture 2025 title with the news that it is now in final four alongside Bradford, Southampton and Wrexham.

Congratulations must go to the team behind the bid for making it this far given the record number of 20 locations that applied which were whittled down to just eight in October. Members of the national panel will be visiting each of the locations over the coming weeks before the final decision is announced in May of this year.

Securing the title would attract millions of visitors to County Durham and the North East, create thousands of jobs, and support the region’s efforts to ensure residents and businesses benefit from the Government’s Levelling Up agenda. It is estimated that Coventry, the current holder of the title, has seen more than £172m invested in cultural funding whilst a further £500m has been ploughed into the city’s regeneration since it was confirmed as the UK City of Culture for 2021.

But there are bigger prizes at stake for County Durham beyond the financial and cultural benefits that await the winner. Perhaps the biggest will be the unity of purpose and togetherness that such a win will bring.

In Durham City alone the longstanding and increasing grumbles about the disparities of town and gown could be set aside with the university being one of the key backers of the bid. The potential restoration of both the Miners’ Hall and DLI museum would bring key parts of Durham’s rich cultural history back into focus as part of a story now to be shared by all.

Above all the opportunity for volunteers and participants alike to join together in civic engagement and community pride has the potential for locals to unite above divisive political issues such as the siting of County Hall.

Such benefits could be multiplied across the county with the bid focusing upon the region as a whole way beyond Durham city itself.

One of the icons for the Bid has been the Tree of Hope – first developed as part of Lumiere 2021 by Tekja digital studios. The Tree of Hope is a digital tree created by millions of hopes collected from social media and a specially created survey and it grows branches as hopes are made in Durham and around the world. The tree started as a sapling, gathering hopes from schoolchildren in Durham, before being presented to audiences at Lumiere with an invitation for each to submit hopes they had. Ninety-four per cent of hopes were made for others, with most relating to love and happiness.

Now the tree has been reshaped, inviting those with a connection to County Durham to share their dreams and ambitions of what could be achieved if the county secures the City of Culture title. Their contributions will then be represented within a constantly evolving digital artwork, which will blossom and bloom with each hope expressed.

As we enter into this season of spring, the Tree of Hope may yet blossom into a tree of unity whose branches stretch out across County Durham to provide a bough which will carry the hopes of title-winning into the fruit of common endeavour and pride in our sense of place here in the North East.

  • The Reverend Arun Arora is the vicar of St Nicholas’ Church in Durham Market Place