National Lottery Heritage Fund announces £27m investment

The National Lottery Heritage Fund has today announced the seven projects receiving a total of over £27m funding. The new injection of funding will support the preservation and renovation of local buildings across the UK.

The new funding round channels £4.7 million to Sheffield, where it will fund the restoration of the Grade II Listed Canada House in Castlegate. The building, which dates from 1875, will be transformed into Harmony Works, a new home for Sheffield Music Academy and Sheffield Hub.

Harmony Works Trust chair David Hobson said: ‘The funding is another crucial milestone for the project and will go towards the restoration of the stunning Canada House, preserving this iconic heritage building in Sheffield for decades to come. Once refurbished, the building will become an energetic new music hub for the region, creating an inclusive space that inspires musical exploration and creativity, and enriches the lives and futures of young people and their communities.’

The new Harmony Works hub will also support the University of Sheffield’s music department and The Sheffield College as well as serving as a base for organisations including Brass Bands England, Music in the Round, Choir with No Name, Orchestras for All and Concerteenies. Restoration of the currently unused building will make space for practice, rehearsal and performance spaces and facilities much-needed in the region.

Other projects benefitting from National Lottery Heritage Fund funding are Edinburgh’s Old Royal High School, now lying vacant, it is one of the oldest schools in Scotland and has been awarded support of up to £5m. In Colchester, Jumbo, the last intact listed water tower from a ‘Golden Age’ of industrial water engineering, will receive an £8m grant award for restoration and conversion into a heritage and events space.

St Ives’ historic Palais de Danse, which has been used as a cinema, dance hall and studio for sculptor Dame Barbara Hepworth, has been awarded £2.8m to open the building to the community and visitors to St Ives. Renovation of Kingsley Hall in Bristol’s Old Market, will be boosted by £4.7m of funding, offering a skill-building space for  youth homelessness charity 1625 Independent People.

The former Marchwell Stables of the West Sussex County Asylum is the birthplace of art therapy. A £1.3m grant will support the creation of affordable and accessible creative spaces at the site, including five studios to support startups and workshop space for youth and community training programmes. Strand Cinema, Northern Ireland’s last remaining art deco picture house receives a £768K grant award via Belfast City Council.

National Lottery Heritage Fund chief executive Eilish McGuinness said: ‘It is wonderful to start the New Year investing in projects that are saving heritage treasures across the UK, with decades of shared memories these exceptional buildings will be repurposed for the 21st century at the centre of communities and places.’