- Almost 450 heritage organisations in England, including Landward Research Ltd, have been awarded cash from the first round of the Culture Recovery Fund for Heritage
- Grants of up to £1 million will deliver a lifeline for the heritage sector in England with further support to follow and larger grants for capital projects awarded through the Heritage Stimulus Fund
- First major tranche of funding from the Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund
Landward Research Ltd is one of 445 heritage organisations across the country set to receive a lifesaving financial boost from the government thanks to the £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund to help them through the coronavirus pandemic.
445 organisations will share £103 million, including Landward Research Ltd to help restart vital reconstruction work and maintenance on cherished heritage sites, keeping venues open and supporting those working in the sector.
Landward Research Ltd will receive of a grant of £26,000 and will use that to ensure that our staff’s livelihoods are secure until the end of the financial year and that we will reach year end with a new business plan that will sustain the company into the future. This will incorporate a new marketing plan that reflects our current situation and includes practical actions we are taking to improve our visibility and place in the market, a detailed review of ourexposure to national and international opportunities that will allow the company to act in a defined, focussed and non-opportunistic way, we will have a clear understanding of our staffing capacity and what this means for the delivery of current and future projects, we will have a clear road map set out for the financial development of the company and we will have invested significantly in developing our staff, resulting in them being more skilled and engaged with the company.
Most importantly, we will have been able to keep operating and so we can make sure that the sector and wider stakeholders will be talking about the value of the results of our work and of the work that we have done, associating our company positively with good and useful work.
This vital funding is from the Culture Recovery Fund for Heritageand the Heritage Stimulus Fund – funded by Government and administered at arms length by Historic England and the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Both funds are part of the Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund which is designed to secure the future of Britain’s museums, galleries, theatres, independent cinemas, heritage sites and music venues with emergency grants and loans.
433 organisations will receive a share of £67 million from the Culture Recovery Fund for Heritage to help with costs for operating, reopening and recovery. This includes famous heritage sites across the country, from Wentworth Woodhouse in Yorkshire to Blackpool’s Winter Gardens, Blyth Tall Ship to the Severn Valley Railway, the International Bomber Command Centre in Lincolnshire to the Piecehall in Halifax. The funds will save sites that are a source of pride for communities across the country.
12 organisations, including English Heritage, Landmark Trust, Historic Royal Palaces and the Canal and River Trust, will receive £34 million from the Heritage Stimulus Fund to restart construction and maintenance on cherished heritage sites to preserve visitor attractions and protect livelihoods for some of the most vulnerable heritage specialists and contractors in the sector.
The Architectural Heritage Fund (AHF) has also been awarded a grant from the Culture Recovery Fund through Historic England. The AHF will use the funding to support charities and social enterprises occupying historic buildings to develop new business plans and strategies for organisations affected by the pandemic.
Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said:
“As a nation it is essential that we preserve our heritage and celebrate and learn from our past. This massive support package will protect our shared heritage for future generations, save jobs and help us prepare for a cultural bounceback post covid.”
Lucy Worsley, Chief Curator, Historic Royal Palaces, said:
“There’s no truer way to experience the past than to walk in the footsteps of those who have lived it – that’s why preserving our built heritage is so important.
“At Historic Royal Palaces, we care for six nationally significant buildings, opening them to the public and preserving them for future generations. Sadly, the pandemic meant that we had to stop some of our critical conservation work. The grant we have received from the Culture Recovery Fund will enable to this work to resume – so we can give some of Britain’s most historic buildings the care and attention they deserve, while supporting the specialist craftspeople who are vital for the future of our national heritage. We are enormously grateful to the Government for this support.”
Kenneth Aitchison, Founder and CEO of Landward Research Ltd, said:
“Landward Research Ltd started trading as Landward Archaeology in 1997, and since then we have become the leading collectors of workforce (labour market) intelligence for the heritage sector, and we have always prioritised collecting data on engagement in the workplace.
These data have been published in a series of reports on labour market intelligence for the archaeological sector (extending back to 1997-98) and for the artefact conservation sector (work undertaken for Icon in 2012).
Previously, this has included collecting data on the gender, ethnicity and disability statuses of heritage workforces, and we are now extending this to gather information on social class.
Without having this benchmark information to hand, individual employers and the broader heritage sector have no way to know if their actions are improving diversity in the workplace.
We are enormously grateful to the Government for their support which will ensure that we are able to continue to do this essential work for the heritage sector.
We are now about to launch Profiling the Profession 2020, which will gather a snapshot of the workforce in professional archaeology as it was just before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. We need to know where we were in order to be able to build back better.”
Duncan Wilson, Historic England’s Chief Executive said:
“It is heartening to see grants, both large and small, from the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund helping heritage sites and organisations across the country which have been hit hard by the effects of Covid-19. These grants range from giving skilled craft workers the chance to keep their trades alive to helping heritage organisations pay the bills, and to kick-starting repair works at our best-loved historic sites. The funding is an essential lifeline for our heritage and the people who work tirelessly to conserve it for us all, so that we can hand it on to future generations.”
Ros Kerslake, Chief Executive of the National Lottery Heritage Fund said:
“It is absolutely right that investing in heritage should be a priority during this crisis and this support by Government is crucial. Heritage creates jobs and economic prosperity, is a major driver for tourism and makes our towns, cities, and rural areas better places to live. All of this is so important for our wellbeing and will be particularly vital when we start to emerge from this incredibly difficult time.
“Our heritage is still facing a perilous future – we are not out of the woods yet. But this hugely welcome funding from Government, and the money we continue to invest from the National Lottery, has undoubtedly stopped heritage and the organisations that care for it being permanently lost.”
Kate Mavor, Chief Executive of English Heritage, said:
“This support for our nation’s heritage is fantastic news. Over the last few months, our teams have been working hard to welcome visitors back safely to the great castles, stone circles, abbeys and historic houses in our care. This funding will help us invest to safeguard the historic fabric of these much-loved places, which everyone can learn from and enjoy.”
