A CLACKS man has hailed the publics support after the Stirling Photography Festival was given a huge cash injection.

Plans for Stirling’s second photography festival were boosted after more than £4,500 was pledged by supporters.

Go Forth Stirling, which runs the city’s Business Improvement District (BID), is among businesses and individuals backing the innovative project and has provided a £500 cash injection.

A Crowdfunder, which aims to raise £5,500 for the month-long initiative, was launched recently and will ended yesterday, Tuesday June 4.

Organisers are thrilled with the response so far and hope more Stirling and Clackmannanshire companies will follow Go Forth’s lead and back them financially.

Rab Fyfe, from Alloa, is a member of the creative team for both the 2018 and 2019 festivals and was thrilled by the backing.

He said: "We're delighted to have Go Forth Stirling BID as a sponsor for this year's Photography Festival.

“They join CitNOW, a Stirling-based automotive technology company, as a corporate sponsor.

“Without the backing of local organisations, we'd be unable to bring the festival back bigger and better than last year.

“These corporate sponsorships donated through our crowdfunding campaign are match-funded by Stirling Council’s Invest in Stirling campaign, making the money go even further and allowing us to stick to our mission of developing community, creativity and skills in an inclusive and sustainable way."

Go Forth Stirling Manager Mags Fenner said: “Go Forth Stirling are delighted to be able to support Stirling Photography Festival 2019.

“The event was a great success last year and the organisers are planning an even bigger and better event this year.

“Projects like this are fantastic for Stirling and it’s wonderful to see the city taking its place on Scotland’s photography 'map'.”

The 2018 festival took place over nine days in July and featured 14 events from photo walks and talks to workshops and studio visits attracting more than 250 people from across the UK.

This year the festival, whose theme is Hope and Passion, will run throughout August and again showcase photography through a series of free events.

Plans include themed photo walks with local historian Andy McEwan - one of which will look at the trading history of Stirling and the development of the city’s retail district.

The Stirling Photography Festival is run by social entrepreneur Janie Meikle Bland, of Picture the Possible, and a creative team made up of Dunblane High School pupil Lauren Gunning, photographer Rab Fyfe and University of Stirling students Nadia Schneider and Brett Landles.

For more details and to make a pledge visit the Crowdfunder page – www.crowdfunder.co.uk/spf19.