£283K TO PUT RAILWAY BACK ON RIGHT TRACK
New Vic also shares in £1.5m handout to help cultural groups recover from covid
HERITAGE railways and theatres are among those sharing nearly £1.5 million in grants to help them bounce back from Covid-19.
They are some of the North Staffordshire beneficiaries of the Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund to support businesses and groups hit financially by the pandemic and lockdown.
Churnet Valley Railway has received £283,000 via the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Historic England – the single biggest award allocated to an organisation in North Staffordshire.
The CVR says the money will help secure the future of the heritage railway, which is in ‘enforced hibernation’, meaning it has lost its regular trading income.
The money will be spent on deferred projects from last year, staff training courses, and customer refunds. It will also allow the CVR to settle supplier accounts from its cancelled Santa and Steam event.
Managing director Gregory Wilson says the grant will help ensure the railway is ready to welcome back passengers on June 23. He said: “We are delighted to receive this award, not only does it reaffirm that we are a central part of the heritage scene in the Staffordshire Moorlands, but it also enables us to put the railway on a safe financial footing following the awful year that was 2020.
“Our volunteers will be relieved that years of hard work will not be wasted. We recognise through our own problems in 2020 the hard work required to keep a business going during the pandemic and therefore the fact the Government has created this, and other funds give us hope that heritage will continue to be a central part of British culture and reaffirms what a central part heritage businesses like ours bring to the tourist economy.”
Stoke-on-trent & North Staffordshire Theatre Trust, which runs the New Vic in Newcastle, is another winner, receiving £247,209 of funding via Arts Council England.
During the pandemic the New Vic has been forced to cancel its live performances, but has continued to run digital projects and sessions.
It tweeted: “We are thrilled to hear we have received funding thanks to the government’s #Culturerecoveryfund. We’ll continue to be here for you and #Hereforculture. We can’t wait for the moment we can welcome you back through our doors in person!”
Burslem-based Moorcroft, which has had to close its visitor centre and suspend factory tours during the pandemic, has been allocated £120,000 of Arts Council England funding. This money will support the reopening of its factory and visitor centre sites.
The Rigger, in Newcastle, has received £40,228 , which will allow it to restart live music programming and introduce live-streamed events and creative wellness workshops.
Stoke-on-trent Pride, which had to cancel its 2020 event, has been awarded £33,069 to support this year’s festival.
This is set to be a week-long event starting on June 19.
More than 2,700 organisations around the country have been allocated £400 million in cultural grants in the latest round of awards.
Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said the grants would help ‘our cultural gems plan for reopening and thrive in the better times ahead’.