A project to grow our charitable work has received a major boost, thanks to a grant of £260,634.26 from the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Shared Prosperity Fund.
Cornwall Heritage Trust cares for 13 of Cornwall’s most important historic sites, runs a history education programme, hosts community events, offers support to other heritage organisations, and provides school transport grants, which have enabled nearly 22,500 primary school children to visit ancient sites, museums and historic properties across Cornwall since its launch in 2014. We will be using our Shared Prosperity Fund award to ensure that we continue to evolve and increase this vital work.
The project will see us grow our capabilities; improve our financial sustainability and resilience; and expand our heritage promotion activities.
A key part of this involves the recruitment of three new full-time positions and safeguarding one part-time role.
These new team members will enable an exciting education and outreach programme to be rolled out to schools, youth groups and members of local communities; build the Trust’s growing volunteering opportunities; and improve the way we care for our sites, enabling us to acquire further historic places and look after them with a focus on their environmental and ecological needs at the forefront. We will also help care for sites in Penwith deemed to be of historic significance and continue the legacy of the Penwith Landscape Partnership project.
In order to achieve this, we will also be investing in equipment to help look after our historic sites. This aims to help establish our sites maintenance team and increase the volunteering opportunities it offers.
Funding will also be used to expand our highly successful School Transport Grants Scheme to reach secondary schools, other educational organisations, and community groups.
Cathy Woolcock, CEO of Cornwall Heritage Trust said: “This is a really exciting step forward for us. The work we do to protect Cornwall’s heritage has grown substantially over the last few years and the Shared Prosperity Fund award is a unique opportunity to accelerate that transformation and growth so that we can reinforce our resilience as an organisation. We’ve been championing Cornwall’s heritage for almost 40 years and have evolved so much in that time. We don’t want to just be here in another 40, we want to be thriving, and investment like this in our continued growth is a huge step towards making that possible!”
Louis Gardner, Cornwall Council cabinet portfolio holder for economy, said: “I’m really pleased that the Shared Prosperity Fund will allow Cornwall Heritage Trust to expand their team and reach new audiences with their important work promoting historic sites across Cornwall.”
What is the UK Shared Prosperity Fund?
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund is a central pillar of the UK Government’s Levelling Up agenda and provides £2.6 billion of funding for local investment by March 2025. The Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK by investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills.
This project is funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Cornwall Council has been chosen by Government as a Lead Authority for the fund and is responsible for monitoring the progress of projects funded through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.
More details of projects that have already received funding, as well as information about open funding opportunities can be found on the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Good Growth website here https://ciosgoodgrowth.com/
