The Richard Ormonde Shuttleworth Remembrance Trust and NavyWings are amongst 415 organisations that have received grants through the UK Government’s Culture Recovery Fund. Shuttleworth will recieve £626,000 while NavyWings will be granted £280,400

Heritage organisations across the country are 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 to help restart vital repair and maintenance work on cherished heritage sites, to keep venues open and to save jobs and livelihoods.

This vital funding is from the Culture Recovery Fund for Heritage and 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.

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.”

Rebecca Dalley, Executive Director, the Shuttleworth Trust, said: “Shuttleworth is treasured by its local community and it is also the repository of an unbroken tradition of engineering and flying since Richard Shuttleworth’s death in 1940. These skills were in real peril as the summer events that fund the winter salaries were cancelled or reduced. The Culture Recovery Fund has secured the future of an incomparable working collection that is managed by a team with irreplaceable heritage skills.”

“This funding is a lifeline for Navy Wings” said Commodore Jock Alexander OBE, the Chief Executive of Navy Wings. “We are absolutely delighted. With all air shows and events cancelled this year, the aircraft have remained grounded and we have lost thousands of pounds of income. The money will be used to keep essential staff working to maintain our historic aircraft and continue our vital fundraising work allowing us to emerge from the pandemic with renewed strength and resilience. With aviation and heritage among the sectors most severely impacted by the crisis, Navy Wings has faced a double hit of challenges and we could not be more grateful for this transformational grant.”

Navy Wings had stepped in to save the Royal Navy’s rare and important collection of historic naval aircraft keeping them flying on behalf of the nation, when the pandemic struck. “The timing could not have been worse!” said Jock Alexander. “Although we took all mitigating actions possible to ensure we could continue to take on the financial and operating responsibilities for this priceless collection, there is no doubt, we would have faced an uncertain future without this grant.”

“Our heritage aircraft are of great historical significance to our national heritage, embodying not only the story of Britain’s naval air power, but the world leading achievements of British engineering, design, and manufacture through the most exciting and innovative decades of aviation history. They are beacons of hope for the future and the Culture Recovery Fund will enable us to keep them flying as a source of pride for communities up and down the country, bringing the history of naval flying alive to modern audiences and making a strong contribution to the wider cultural and heritage sector at the national level.”

Other aviation related recipients of grants include the International Bomber Command Centre, the Biggin Hill Memorial Museum, Boscombe Down Aviation Collection Ltd and the Nimrod Preservation Group. A full list of recipients from Culture Recovery Fund for Heritage can downloaded from Gov.uk.