Issued 20th June 2012
The National Museum of the Royal Navy (NMRN) and the Mary Rose Trust in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard are delighted to have both been awarded a combined £6millon from the Heritage Lottery Fund through the Catalyst Endowment programme to assist with fund raising to help secure the long term futures of both HMS Victory and the Mary Rose.
The Catalyst Endowment programme is a joint initiative between the Departure for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), Arts Council England (ACE) and the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF). Designed to bring new money into the cultural sector, the programme offers match funding to help arts and heritage organisations secure their financial stability by building a new endowment fund or developing an existing one. The organisations will use the grants of between £500,000 and £5 million to attract money from private philanthropic sources.
The £5million award to the NMRN follows the announcement earlier in the year of the MOD transferring custodianship of HMS Victory to a charitable trust, controlled by the Museum. This has allowed the new trust to secure private donations, and to seek grants from bodies such as the Catalyst Endowment programme to help sustain VICTORY for the benefit of future generations.
Professor Dominic Tweddle Director General of the National Museum of the Royal Navy, commented: "The National Museum is delighted to have been awarded a Catalyst Endowment Fund grant for HMS Victory. This will help us to ensure that the Nation''s Flagship will be fit and ready for duty for another 250 years!"
The Mary Rose Trust has also benefited and securing the £1million endowment fund will help to assure the Trusts future, including the ability to provide the highly acclaimed learning and outreach programme and to support the Trusts on going research into its remarkable collection.
John Lippiett, Chief Executive of the Mary Rose Trust said: We are highly appreciative of the continuing support of the HLF and its partners in the Catalyst Endowment programme. This award comes in a momentous year for the Mary Rose Trust as it approaches the 30th anniversary of the raising from the Solent, in October, and looks ahead to opening of an internationally significant museum at the end of the year. The Mary Rose is an amazing time capsule and one of our most precious heritage icons. Many of us remember the moment when the ship was found and subsequently raised from the sea bed. Since then, more than seven million have come to marvel at it and learn more about its fascinating history. This major investment will help convert years of painstaking archaeological endeavour into an amazing living history experience for future generations.
Dame Jenny Abramsky, Chair of the Heritage Lottery Fund, said:
The Catalyst: Endowments Programme is part of our response to helping boost private giving across the heritage sector. Alongside our plans to build the fundraising capacity of smaller groups, we expect the programme to form part of a shift in approach to philanthropic giving that will help build financial resilience and attract new money to heritage groups of every size.
The NMRN and Mary Rose Trust will have a three year timescale to match fund the award, recognising that changing the way organisations work and generating a continuous flow of new sources of funding will take time. Organisations who applied for the fund were expected to have some experience in fundraising and show commitment to wanting to raise their game in this area.