Bellfoundry loses out in lotto cash bid

LOUGHBOROUGH Bellfoundry Trust has failed in a bid to gain £8.4m lottery funding for urgent repair work to the historic premises in town.

Earlier this year it submitted the bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) to carry out the vital work on the John Taylor’s and Co premises in Freehold Street.

The trust was set up by a number of the firm’s directors to safeguard the future of bell making at the site in Loughborough.

But in a major blow to the site, the HLF has rejected the application for funding.

A spokesperson for the bellfoundry trust said: “After around 18 months of preparation our application to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for funding to help save the Bellfoundry was put forward to its Major Grants (£5m-plus) Board meeting at the end of April 2018.

“However, unfortunately, due to a lack of available funds, HLF’s Board were unable to support the project.

“Undeterred, the trust has resolved to resubmit a smaller application to HLF later this year as the Major Grants programme that awards over £5m will not be running in 2018.

“The Grade II* Listed buildings are still on the Historic England Heritage At Risk Register and require substantial investment to undertake the urgent repairs that will secure their future and the future of British bell making.

“We would like to thank everyone for their support of the project so far and hope that a future bid will be successful.”

A spokesperson for the Heritage Lottery Fund said: “We know this news must be very disappointing but our recent board meeting was over-subscribed and highly competitive, meaning we sadly did not have enough money to support all the applications we looked at on the day.”