Last week in Parliament Emma met with the Heritage Lottery Fund. South Tyneside will benefit from priority development area status for at least 2 years meaning applicants will receive assistance to help them plan good projects more likely to receive funding.
The area has been allocated nearly £7.4 million for projects including £580,000 awarded to the Tyne & Wear Building and Preservation Trust, to restore the derelict St Hilda’s Colliery Headstock building in South Shields and bring it back into use.
It is proposed that the Grade II Listed building, which is owned by South Tyneside Council, be transformed into business start-up accommodation through a partnership with the Trust, in turn helping to address issues around the physical condition of the building and ensuring it can be preserved it for the future.
Over £36,000 has been awarded for projects related to the First World War including £10,000 to South Tyneside Libraries to fund a database of information of more than 500 men from the region who served during World War 1.
Emma is urging people in South Shields to consider applying to the Heritage Lottery Fund for community projects especially for projects that relate to learning more about the First World War.
HLF is making at least £1million a year available until 2019 as part of the First World War: then and now programme for small, community grants. It provides grants of £3,000 to £10,000 enabling groups right across the UK to explore, conserve and share their First World War heritage and deepen their understanding of the impact of the conflict.
Schools, community and voluntary groups, youth clubs, local history societies, civic trusts, parish councils, libraries in the area who interested in marking the Centenary should have a think about how they would like to do it.
Successful projects will include: researching, identifying and recording local heritage; creating a community archive or collection; developing new interpretation of heritage through exhibitions, trails, smartphone apps, social-
media; researching, writing and performing creative material based on heritage sources and conserving and finding out more about war memorials.
Emma said: “I’m delighted that the Heritage Lottery Fund is making this money available to local communities. Like many areas across the UK, the impact of the First World War on the people of South Tyneside was extensive. Tyneside Shipyards made a crucial contribution to the war effort, building ships that fought in the Battle of Jutland – the largest naval battle and the only full-scale clash of battleships in the First World War.
This is an excellent opportunity for everyone to explore the legacy of the First World War and bring their local history alive to mark the Centenary.”
Ivor Crowther, Head of Heritage Lottery Fund in the North East, said: “The impact of the First World War was far reaching, touching and shaping every corner of the UK and beyond. The Heritage Lottery Fund’s First World War: then and now programme will enable communities to explore the continuing legacy of this war and help young people in particular to broaden their understanding of how it has shaped our modern world.”
If a group have a project idea to mark the Centenary of the First World War, an online application pack is available here
If a group needs a grant of more than £10,000 for a First World War project, it can apply to HLF through its open programmes.
To see a list of successful funding bids for South Tyneside click here: