The latest investment from the Government’s £1.57bn Culture Recovery Fund will ensure jobs and access to heritage in local communities are protected in the months ahead.

Culture Secretary, Oliver Dowden, said: “These grants will help the places that have shaped our skylines for hundreds of years and that continue to define culture in our towns and cities.”

Where we’re making a difference

St Paul’s and Durham Cathedral are among some of the country’s most recognisable landmarks receiving lifeline grants. £2,125,000 will provide stability for St Paul’s which usually relies on visitors for 90% of its annual income.

Durham Cathedral, popular with thousands of visitors every year as a filming location in the Harry Potter films, will receive £1,935,000 to cover staff costs and installing essential safety measures.

One of the oldest jazz clubs in the world, Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, will receive £1,272,631 to explore streamed performance opportunities for emerging and established British musicians.

“This funding has provided a future for much of our heritage when it might otherwise have been permanently lost.”

Ros Kerslake, Chief Executive, The National Lottery Heritage Fund

Blenheim Palace, the Oxfordshire birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill, will receive £1,896,000 for extensive repairs and updates to exhibition areas for visitors when it is safe to reopen.

Grants between £10,000 and £1 million have been awarded to stabilise 77 organisations. Sites include Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre in Macclesfield, which will receive £125,600 to develop digital activity to reach an online audience unable to visit in person.

Ros Kerslake, Chief Executive at The Fund said: “It’s important to acknowledge how valuable this has been for our heritage organisations and visitor attractions. Although we are not able to support everyone facing difficulties, today’s funding package helps a diverse range of heritage organisations from across the country survive, adapt and plan for a brighter future.

“By the end of this financial year we will have distributed almost £600m of Government and National Lottery Funding to heritage organisations. This funding has provided a future for much of our heritage when it might otherwise have been permanently lost.”