It’s natural to think when hearing about the £1m plus awarded by The Heritage Lottery and almost £250k of other grants and donations that we have plenty of money in hand. Whilst this cash does enable the trust to complete the rescue, renovation and extension of this wonderful building and surrounding landscape, further support will be required.
The challenge now is to get it buzzing with interesting activities so that in 4 years time when our Heritage Lottery support ceases, we are earning enough each year to maintain the building and grounds in prime condition so it can be enjoyed by the community and visitors for generations to come.
Our costs look like this:
- Building and grounds renovation and extension £1,055,000
- Fitting out the heritage centre and other visitor attractions £85,000
- Maintenance and activity costs until July 2018 £428,000
- Total cash requirement2014-18 £1,568,000
- Money raised so far £1,363,000
- Income required 2014-18 £195,000
This will come from:
- Sponsorship and participation fees for exhibitions, talks, festivals, hands-on community activities such as quilting, historic gardening, period clothing and research into the town archives and natural history.
- Rentals of rooms and grounds for club and society meetings, business events and functions including weddings.
- Refreshments served to local users and visitors,money raising by The Friends, public appeals and matching grants from national bodies.
