The Rye Heritage Centre has been awarded a £20,000 grant from the Covid-19 Culture Recovery Fund and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport explains that the sum comes from the Government’s £1.57 billion fund to help venues, art bodies, historic and heritage sites specifically to recover from the impact of the pandemic.
This grant is separate from any other development grants being sought and should be used to cover core operating costs to help the centre prepare effectively for eventual reopening. Since taking over from Rye Town Council, the centre’s registered charitable status enables the board to seek funds from sources which otherwise might not have been available.
Separately, the trustees of the charity now running the centre, are seeking additional funds to develop digital exhibits around the Rye town model. Apart from signposting other heritage sites in Rye, the Rye Heritage Centre aims to provide an explanation of Rye’s history through digital panels and displays.
In this way it would enhance the visitor experience, when of course we get back to the “new normal”. Funds raised previous to lockdown will enable the centre to take to take part in the Christmas Wanderland window displays next month.
Simon Parsons, chair of the trust board said: “We are both thrilled and relieved to receive this vital support from the government’s Cultural Recovery Fund. Since establishing the charitable trust to take over the centre from Rye Town Council just before the first lockdown, we have had to be imaginative to avoid threat of permanent closure because Covid-19 has prevented business as usual. This very welcome grant will allow us to continue to plan for reopening when the rules allow it.”
Image Credits: Anthony Kimber .