During our June Trustee meeting, we were delighted to award 19 grants coming to a total of £331,000. A total of 16 grants were awarded from our Preservation & Conservation fund and 3 grants were awarded from our Research, Advocacy & Development fund. Below we share a little about each grant and its purpose.
Preservation & Conservation
World famous gardens and a centre for plant science, Kew Gardens, has a rich history of featuring Japanese culture within their gardens. Our grant of £10,000 will go towards the restoration and repair of the Chokushi-Mon, a Japanese garden gate structure.
Rosefield Mills are some of the last survivors of Dumfries’ large-scale Victorian buildings that line the River Nith. Dumfries Historic Buildings Trust wants to restore this popular heritage building at risk. Our grant of £30,000 will enable them to recruit a Project Development Officer to lead this project.
Kilcooley Women’s Centre offers a wide portfolio of activities to support women in the local area. The centre would like to save and restore the Old Market House – a historic building that will support the local community once restored. Our grant of £20,000 will go towards urgent repairs to save this future community hub.
Ferryhill Railway Site was the first railway station and engine shed in Aberdeen, comprised of Office Buildings, an Engine Shed and Water Tower. The Ferryhill Railway Trust will receive a grant of £5,000 to help convert the Office Buildings and Water Tower into a visitor centre and workshop area.
Marc and Isambard Kingdom Brunel were genius civil engineers who constructed the Thames Tunnel in 1843. Based on the site where the Thames Tunnel was constructed, the Brunel Museum is planning a major repair project to help preserve this historical site. Our grant of £10,000 will help this restoration project.
After successfully restoring Mill Two of the Leigh Spinners Mill, the Leigh Building Preservation Trust is beginning to repair Mill One. Our grant of £25,000 will help complete internal repairs and convert the ‘scutching room’ in Mill One into a historic, micro pub.
Over three years, we will give a total of £90,000 to the Theatres Trust to help create and run the programme: ‘Resilient Theatres: Resilient Communities’. As the national advisory body for theatres across the UK, the Theatres Trust will help theatres recover from the longer-term impacts of Covid-19.
Suffolk Building Preservation Trust looks Pakenham Water Mill, a Grade II* listed building. Our grant of £5,000 will go towards external repairs to protect the Mill from exposure and water ingress.
Phoebe Anna Traquair painted the mural cycle for the Song School for St Mary’s Cathedral, which is now in need of restoration. Our grant of £5,000 will go towards the restorative work, preventing further deterioration.
The Steamship Sir Walter Scott Trust’s SOS appeal to ‘Save our Steamship’ seeks to raise £400,000 to restore the historic, 121-year-old, Sir Walter Scott Steamship. Our grant of £10,000 goes towards this appeal.
The Cricketers Arms is a prominent, three-storey building at the heart of the Heritage Action Zone in Swindon. The New Mechanics Institution Preservation Trust wants to restore the building and our grant of £10,000 goes towards the phase one repairs.
St Dionysius Church in Ayton, Scotland, dates to the 12th century and is now an ivy-covered ruin. Ayton Heritage SCIO wants to preserve the ruin and our grant of £10,000 will help expert removal of the ivy and repairs to the stonework.
The Grimsthorpe and Drummond Castle Trust would like to conserve an early 17th century doublet. Our grant of £5,000 will help the conservation project by an award-winning textile conservator.
The National Museums Scotland would like to save a very rare pulpit found in Dun Church in Angus that is a fine example of a 16-17th century post-Reformation pulpits. Our grant of £9,000 will enable the Museum to purchase and move the pulpit.
Ding dong! Carlisle Cathedral applied to us to help fix their historic Cathedral clock. Ringing out the hour on an old tenor bell, we gave them £7,000 to go towards this repair and preservation of the clock.
Foggathorpe Parish Council would like to preserve an old Victorian coalhouse that sits beside a central meadow used for local events. Our grant of £3,000 will go towards the initial work for an architect to survey the building and provide plans.
(c) National Portrait Gallery. Left: Louise de Keroualle, Duchess of Portsmouth with an unknown female attendant, by Pierre Mignard, Oil on canva, 1682. Right: George Keith, 10th Earl Marischal and his groom, possible Ibrahim Attr. to Placido Costanzi, Oil on cooper, circa 1733.
Research, Advocacy and Development Fund
The National Portrait Gallery is home to one of the world’s most prestigious collections of portraits. Hidden within these portraits, there are hundreds of images of People of Colour about which extremely little is known. These people have been routinely overlooked, as unidentified figures. Our grant of £45,000 will go towards appointing a researcher to survey the archive and identify and contextualise unidentified People of Colour.
The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) represents over 17,000 voluntary organisations, charities, community groups and social enterprises across England. After the Small Charities Coalition (SCC) closed in 2022, the NCVO and the Foundation for Social Improvement came together to provide a home for the SCC’s helpdesk. Our grant of £15,000 goes towards the first year of transferring and managing the helpdesk.
Safe Passage supports refugees on the move to be reunited with their family members in the UK and across Europe. Our grant of £15,000 will go towards advocacy and campaigning work to leverage widespread support for all refugees.
If you’d like to learn more about these grants or any of our grants, you can read more on Recent Grants Awarded.