Towpath Talk

Dudley Canal and Tunnel Trust receives Heritage Fund support

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DUDLEY Canal and Tunnel Trust has received £34,000 of funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to help maintain its charitable objectives during this challengin­g period.

Since the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown began, the trust has been unable to offer its popular guided canal boat trips into the unique undergroun­d caverns and tunnels beneath the heart of Dudley.

Traci Dix-Williams, chief executive at Dudley Canal Trust, said: “Thanks to the National Lottery and its players we can now plan and get into a position where we can get back to offering our trips and activities. We’re grateful that the National Lottery Heritage Fund is supporting us at this crucial time – it’s a lifeline to us and others who are passionate about sustaining heritage for the benefit of all.”

The funding, made possible by National Lottery players, was awarded through the National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Heritage Emergency Fund – £50million has been made available to provide emergency funding for those most in need across the heritage sector.

The UK-wide fund will address both immediate emergency actions and help organisati­ons to start thinking about recovery.

Ros Kerslake, chief executive of the National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “Heritage has an essential role to play in making communitie­s better places to live, supporting economic regenerati­on and benefiting our personal well-being. All of these things are going to be even more important as we emerge from this current crisis.

“Thanks to money raised by

National Lottery players we are pleased to be able to lend our support to organisati­ons such as Dudley Canal and Tunnel Trust during this uncertain time.”

Like the trust, other charities and organisati­ons across the UK that have been affected by the unpreceden­ted impact of the coronaviru­s outbreak are being given access to a comprehens­ive package of support of up to £600 million of repurposed money from the National Lottery.

This money is supporting some of the most vulnerable people in our communitie­s and projects span the arts, community, charity, heritage, education, environmen­t and sports sectors.

Thanks to National Lottery players, £30 million is raised every week for good causes, including heritage of local and national importance. By playing the National Lottery, people up and down the country are making an amazing contributi­on to the nationwide response to combating the impact of Covid-19 on local communitie­s across the UK.

The National Lottery Heritage Fund is currently open to applicatio­ns for its Heritage Emergency Fund. To find out more visit: https:// www.heritagefu­nd.org.uk/ responding-coronaviru­scovid-19

To find out more about the National Lottery Good Causes, v is it:www. lottery good causes. org.uk/coronaviru­s-pandemicre­sponse

 ?? PHOTO: DCTT ?? The Dudley Canal and Tunnel Trust has been unable to offer its popular guided trips during the lockdown.
PHOTO: DCTT The Dudley Canal and Tunnel Trust has been unable to offer its popular guided trips during the lockdown.

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