Culture Recovery Fund for Heritage: Second Round Award for Holy Trinity Church in Nailsea

Holy Trinity Church in Nailsea are pleased to confirm they have been successfully awarded monies under the Culture Recovery Fund for Heritage – Second Round Lottery Fund Scheme to help organisations cope with the effects of the pandemic and lockdowns over the last 12 months and enable the necessary work to safely open up access to the community.

From March 2020 the Church, in common with others, has suffered from the lockdown and government restrictions affecting our ability to support local community groups who used the building to run their activities. Unsurprisingly these restrictions have had a major impact on our funds and whilst some Local Authority Grants and furlough monies have been received along with the support from our congregation the pandemic has greatly affected our finances.

However, we have remained active and available to help people within Nailsea but now with the Government’s “roadmap” we are planning for re-opening and welcoming our previous community groups back into both the Trinity Centre and Church Hall buildings.

The Grant Award of £76,200 will help the Church undertake the costs to open up, confidently working with our community groups and also complete some of the repairs that due to financial constraints would not have been possible.

With the Heritage Grant our support of the Community Groups can start again, in confidence, in a Covid safe environment.

Culture Secretary, Oliver Dowden, said:

“Our record breaking Culture Recovery Fund has already helped thousands of culture and heritage organisations across the country survive the biggest crisis they’ve ever faced.

Now we’re staying by their side as they prepare to welcome the public back through their doors – helping our cultural gems plan for reopening and thrive in the better times ahead.”

James Packman, Rector of Holy Trinity, commented:

“This grant will really help us get back to serving our local community. We estimate that we had 35,000 visits through our doors in 2019. People came into the church building, Trinity Centre, Trinity House and Church Hall for all sorts of reasons, from those using our facilities for dance lessons to counselling, and from toddler groups to our lunch for seniors, and much, much more. It’s been really sad that many of these groups have been restricted or had to stop for periods of time over the past year, so this grant money is a great encouragement for us as we look to throw open our doors wide to the community once again.”

Ros Kerslake, CEO of The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said:

“Spring is definitely here, bringing not only sunshine but that sense of optimism and hope for the future. We are all looking forward to heritage places and other visitor attractions reopening and I am very pleased that we have been able to support DCMS in delivering this vital funding to ensure the UK’s heritage sector can rebuild and thrive, boosting local economies, creating jobs and supporting personal wellbeing.”

Duncan Wilson, Chief Executive of Historic England, said:

“The value of our heritage sites and the people who run them has been amply demonstrated, as they have provided an anchor for so many of us through the dark days of the last year. Vital grants from the Culture Recovery Fund have helped them survive and will now help them recover, as the places we all cherish start to reopen in the months ahead.”

In the near future Holy Trinity look forward to again welcoming community groups including – Toddlers, Rainbow, Guides and Brownies, Pop-In lunches for the elderly, Sole Survivor, music, choir, dance and local school children into the gardens in using our facilities.