Portsmouth cultural attractions including the Historic Dockyard's Mary Rose get six-figure government grant to recover from Covid-19 pandemic
A total of £691,062 from the government’s Culture Recovery Fund will be given to The Mary Rose, The Guildhall, Wedgewood Rooms and Kings Theatre Trust.
The Mary Rose Trust, which preserves the 476-year-old warship, has been awarded a grant of £327,652 to help meet the costs of ensuring the ship and collection remain on public display.
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Hide AdThe funding will also support work to celebrate next year’s 40th anniversary of the raising of the Mary Rose from the bottom of the Solent.
Dominic Jones, chief executive of the Mary Rose Trust, said that without the government’s support over the last 18 months the Trust ‘couldn’t have survived’.
The charity boss said: ‘We are incredibly grateful for the support through the latest round of Culture Recovery Fund. It will help us carry on our vital work and ensure we can continue to welcome visitors to our world- class experience here in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.
‘Everyone has been affected by the pandemic but we are enormously grateful for the Government’s support for the arts and cultural sector.’
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Over £1.2 billion has already been awarded from the government’s Culture Recovery Fund since the start of the pandemic, supporting around 5,000 individual organisations and sites across the country ranging from small museums to West End theatres.
A total of 925 recipients nationwide will benefit from the latest round of awards, including the The Hampshire Cultural Trust, which has secured a grant of £240,000.
The funding will support the trust as it runs 23 arts and museum attractions, as well as caring for 2.5 million objects of importance to Hampshire’s heritage.
Paul Sapwell, chief executive of Hampshire Cultural Trust, said: ‘Receiving funding for the third time from the Culture Recovery Fund is fantastic news for Hampshire Cultural Trust. The two grants that we have already received have been instrumental in helping us to re-open our doors to visitors across the county and crucially, in helping us to support communities as we move towards a future where we can put the pandemic behind us.’