- More help for heritage in need with £14 million investment in England’s historic sites
- The Archbishop’s Palace Conservation Trust is among 162 organisations receiving lifeline grant from the £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund
- Culture across the country benefits as 70 per cent of latest Culture Recovery funding awarded outside London
Lifeline grants from the latest round of the £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund will protect a further 162 heritage sites to ensure that jobs and access to arts, culture and heritage in local communities are protected in the months ahead, the Culture Secretary announced today.
Historic sites including the Archbishop’s Palace in Otford will receive help to meet ongoing costs and support to restart activity when it is possible to do so safely.
More than £9 million has been allocated by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Historic England on behalf of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, which builds on £103 million awarded to more significant historic places last month. Grants between £10,000 and £1 million have been awarded to stabilise 77 organisations.
In addition, £5 million will go to construction and maintenance projects that have been paused due to the pandemic.
Historic England has allocated £3,971,513 in awards from the Heritage Stimulus Fund, part of a £120 million capital investment from the Culture Recovery Fund, to restart construction and maintenance projects facing delays or increased costs as a result of the pandemic and save specialist livelihoods in the sector.
The Archbishop’s Palace Conservation Trust has been awarded £10,400 which will be used in preparation for the main conservation project, for essential maintenance, and for the educational outreach programme.
Culture Secretary, Oliver Dowden, said:
“These grants will help the places that have shaped our skylines for hundreds of years and that continue to define culture in our towns and cities.
From St Paul’s and Ronnie Scott’s to The Lowry and Durham Cathedral, we’re protecting heritage and culture in every corner of the country to save jobs and ensure it can bounce back strongly.”
Nick Rushby for the Trust, said:
“The past nine months have been difficult for the Trust because we have had to put our project to conserve the Palace on hold. The Archbishop’s Palace is on the Heritage at Risk Register and this funding is a lifeline that will enable us to move forward with the project to conserve the buildings. It will also enable us to develop our outreach programme for local school and libraries providing resources and speakers to support and improve understanding of the heritage of the Darent Valley. Sections of the Otford Heritage Collection will be curated as stand-alone collections and made available on loan to schools and libraries in the Darent Valley and the neighbouring areas, with particular attention to the London Boroughs that would derive the most benefit for these resources. The materials on the Otford Palace website (particularly the forthcoming museum catalogue) will be a key part of this resource. They will be supported by printed materials and speakers drawn from the Trust’s volunteers.”
74 organisations are also receiving grants of up to £25,000 from the Covid-19 Emergency Heritage at Risk Response Fund, launched by Historic England and almost quadrupled thanks to the Culture Recovery Fund, to cover maintenance and repairs urgently needed on historic buildings and sites up and down the country.
Duncan Wilson, Historic England Chief Executive said:
“Historic places across the country, from Durham Cathedral embodying more than a thousand years of history to the Crystal Palace dinosaurs, much loved by children and grownups alike, are being supported by the Government’s latest round of grants awarded under the Culture Recovery Fund. This funding is a lifeline which is kickstarting essential repairs and maintenance at many of our most precious historic sites, so they can begin to recover from the damaging effects of Covid-19. It is also providing employment for skilled craft workers who help to keep historic places alive and the wheels of the heritage sector turning. Our shared heritage is an anchor for us all in these challenging times and this funding will help to ensure it remains part of our collective future.”
Ros Kerslake, Chief Executive of the National Lottery Heritage Fund said:
“The Government’s £1.57bn package for culture is unprecedented and it’s important to acknowledge how valuable this has been for our heritage organisations and visitor attractions. Although we are not able to support everyone facing difficulties, today’s funding package helps a diverse range of heritage organisations from across the country survive, adapt and plan for a brighter future through the Culture Recovery Fund for Heritage.
“By the end of this financial year we will have distributed almost £600m of Government and National Lottery Funding to heritage organisations. Investing in heritage remains vitally important, creating jobs and economic prosperity, driving tourism, supporting our wellbeing and making our towns, cities, and rural areas better places to live. There is a lot more work to do to address the ongoing challenges, but this funding has provided a future for much of our heritage and the organisations that care for it, when it might otherwise have been permanently lost.”
All four nations are benefiting from the UK Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund, with £188 million barnetted to the Devolved Administrations to run their own process – £97 million for Scotland, £59 million for Wales and £33 million for Northern Ireland. This funding will enable them to increase the support already available to the arts and cultural sectors in each nation.
Over £18 million in funding will go to 8 arts and cultural organisations around the country in the second round of grants between £1 million and £3 million awarded by Arts Council England on behalf of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, it has also been announced today. This funding builds on £75 million in grants over £1 million for iconic venues like Shakespeare’s Globe and the Sheffield Crucible last month.