Eddi Reader hits out at North Ayrshire Council plans to close the Harbour Arts Centre

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Beloved Scottish singer Eddi Reader has spoken out in defence of Irvine's Harbour Art Centre (HAC) which is at risk of being shut down as part of North Ayrshire Council's plan to make £14.5m in cuts.

The critically acclaimed artist is standing up for the HAC after a leaked revenue budget dossier confirmed North Ayrshire Council is considering shutting down the town's last remaining music venue and theatre in a bid to save a meagre £49,000.

Eddi first moved to Bourtreehill in 1976 as part of the Glasgow overspill and the former Fairground Attraction frontwoman found an artistic home in the HAC.She said: "The HAC was a very important place for a musical child like me to have somewhere to go. "It offered me a great space not just for singing, but visual arts like painting, and drama classes which helped to grow confidence in public speaking, and the folk scene offered a story of Scottish history and modern songwriting."The HAC had a vital role to play in my musical education; it was all-encompassing."The people who were involved in the HAC, those in the Irvine Development Council (IDC), and Mr McDonald, the art teacher at Greenwood Academy, were all invested in helping children have access to see other artists' work, instill our ambition to perform, mentor us and show us exhibits."Billy Connolly, Danny Kyle, and all the icons of the folk scene used to do performances there so we could go to the HAC as trainees and learn our craft."The HAC is breathing space to escape the drudgery and find entertainment, increase creativity and inspire. "Unless we nurture our creative energy, we kind of end up dying before our bodies die."I needed somewhere to go and the HAC gave me that and if you want other kids to come along you're going