Duchess: I can’t get a National Lottery grant
The Duchess of Northumberland has claimed she was discriminated against when applying for National Lottery grants because of her title. Jane Percy said she found it difficult to get grants for the gardens at Alnwick Castle and believed it was because she was the wife of a duke.
THE Duchess of Northumberland has claimed she was discriminated against when applying for National Lottery grants because of her title.
Jane Percy, whose husband is the 12th Duke, said she found it difficult to get grants for the gardens at Alnwick Castle, which featured in the Harry Potter films, and believes it is because she is the wife of a duke.
The Duchess has transformed Alnwick Castle’s ornamental gardens over the past two decades. It is now a modern visitor attraction that includes a giant water feature, a “Poison Garden” of plants that kill and one of the UK’S largest tree houses, with wobbly rope bridges and twinkly lights.
The redevelopment was paid for by donations, visitor income and an EU grant.
The Duchess, 60, said she requested a £25million grant from the Big Lottery Fund’s Living Landmarks initiative to allow her to complete a stage of the Alnwick Garden a decade ago, but was refused.
“I very nearly gave up at the point,” she said. “It seems terribly unfair that, because I have a handle, I was not able to get lottery funding. Although we’ve delivered many measurable benefits, we’ve never received Lottery funding and I’ve been advised not to try, as I’d be unsuccessful.”
She said this apparent discrimination had even extended to other foundations which made it clear that “they weren’t comfortable ‘donating to a Duchess’”.
But she has pressed on, determined to see her project through. “I fight against injustice,” she said.
The results speak for themselves. Alnwick Garden has an annual turnover of £5million and employs 123 staff. Nearly six million people have visited, contributing to the local economy.
The garden’s quirkiness and individuality – a recent addition has been swings in the cherry orchard designed for playful pensioners – seem a long way from some National Trust properties.
Asked if she thought some of the Trust’s properties were “boring”, the Duchess laughed: “I didn’t say that. I have a saying in the garden written down on a stone: ‘Only dead fish swim with the stream’. It sums up everything – go your own way.”
Her dislike of “standardisation” is why the Duchess considers Britain’s departure from the EU “hugely exciting”.
She said: “There are great opportunities because I hate being told what to do by Brussels. I am a rebel by nature anyway and want to do my own thing.”
One complaint is that for too long the north of England has been ignored by policymakers in London. The region felt no benefit from the 2012 London Olympics, she said. Last week Jake Berry, the Northern Powerhouse minister who is drumming up support for a Borderlands Growth initiative, became the first politician to visit her gardens after nearly a quarter of a century.
The Duchess said: “I am fully supportive of this Borderlands initiative. After 23 years of working hard here we
‘I have a saying in the garden written down on a stone: ‘Only dead fish swim with the stream’’
had not had a single minister visit.” For his part, Mr Berry said that people would see the investment as cash to glue the border of England and Scotland together as it is under threat from the SNP’S resurgent nationalism.
Camelot, which runs the National Lottery, said it played no role in allocating funds.
A Big Lottery Fund spokesman said: “The title or status of an individual has no bearing on whether we award a grant. All applications went through a rigorous reviewing process and tough decisions had to be made.”