Popular Peterborough tourist attraction Sacrewell Farm, has received £50,000 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to help with the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The farm at Thornhaugh has been run as a charity since 1964 by the William Scott Abbott Trust. Since the lockdown began, the farm attraction has been unable to welcome visitors, participants or to carry out fundraising activities. Limited opening has only just resumed. Funds raised from the farm are usually reinvested into the upkeep of the site and the livestock, which is what the donation from the HLF has gone towards.
General Manager, Lee Scowen said: “Thanks to the National Lottery and its players we can now continue our work here at Sacrewell Farm.
“In previous years we’ve hosted Farm Camp, Young Farmer’s Apprentice sessions, protected rare breeds and had introduced generations of families to food and farming. We also have a resident blacksmith and craft workshops. At the present time, we are now working out our procedures so we can welcome visitors again in a socially distant manner.
“We’re grateful that The National Lottery Heritage Fund in supporting us at this crucial time – it’s a lifeline to us and others who are passionate about sustaining heritage for the benefit of all.”
The funding, made possible by National Lottery players, was awarded through The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Heritage Emergency Fund. £50million has been made available to provide emergency funding for those most in need across the heritage sector.
The UK-wide fund will address both immediate emergency actions and help organisations to start thinking about recovery.
Like Sacrewell Farm, other charities and organisations across the UK that have been affected by the unprecedented impact of the coronavirus outbreak are being given access to a comprehensive package of support of up to £600 million of repurposed money from The National Lottery.
The National Lottery Heritage Fund is currently open to applications for its Heritage Emergency Fund. To find out more visit: www.heritagefund.org.uk/responding-coronavirus-covid-19