We are delighted to announce that the Clevedon pier & Heritage Trust has been awarded a £24,720 Culture Recovery Grant from the Architectural Heritage Fund (AHF). The scheme is designed to ensure that when people visit local cultural sites in their community, they do so in a COVID secure way. The money will be used to support the reopening of the Pier, including the reinstatement of catering operations and improved access to some of the Trust’s educational resources.
Matthew Mckeague, CEO, Architectural Heritage Fund, said:
“The COVID-19 crisis has brought unparalleled uncertainty to the heritage sector, with organisations that rely on visitor income or community group usage shuttered for most of the past year. However, these grants will support organisations in becoming more resilient as they emerge from the crisis.
“For forty-five years, the Architectural Heritage Fund has been committed to supporting communities to develop sustainable new uses for their much-loved historic buildings. We are pleased to have been able to offer this additional support at a time of extraordinary need and are very grateful to DCMS for funding these vital grants.”
Clevedon Pier is currently closed for COVID safety reasons and, over the course of the last year, £150,000 of expected visitor income has not been forthcoming because of the pandemic. Last year a £39,000 grant was received from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Trust is continuing make full use of all Government help that is available. This latest AHF grant, along with the continuing generosity of supporters will help to ensure that the Pier is ready to reopen as soon as it is safe to do so.
Phil Curme, Chair, Clevedon Pier and Heritage Trust, said:
“We are extremely grateful for the team at the AHF for this grant. We are reviewing our reopening plan at the end of the month and this money will enable us to move faster and more imaginatively than we otherwise could. It is likely that we will start by allowing access to our open spaces – as we did late late year – but, with the help of this grant, we can now plan for the slightly longer term – in particular the reopening of our ‘Glass Box’ cafe and interactive exhibition area”.
The Architectural Fund briefing can be read here.
