Laura Sandys brought the Heritage Lottery Fund to Thanet for a meeting attended by over 70 representatives of charities, organisations and businesses working in the tourism and heritage sectors.
The South Thanet MP said: “After meeting with the Heritage Lottery Fund previously, I knew how keen they are to encourage more applications from Thanet, particularly those for heritage businesses. I thought it would be great to bring Stuart McLeod, Head of the Heritage Lottery Fund (South East) to Thanet in order to advise what funding and support is available and to provide some helpful tips on the application process. The Fund offers a wide range of grant programmes aimed at facilitating education, conservation and celebration around heritage. I am particularly pleased that Mr McLeod promised to provide additional support to prospective applicants from Thanet.
“Figures released at the end of last month by Visit Kent show that tourism in the County is worth £3.4 billion and supports 64,414 jobs. I believe that Thanet has such a rich heritage that we can be attracting many more visitors for longer periods and tempting them to part with more of their cash. For international visitors, a study conducted by the Heritage Lottery Fund revealed that heritage is their main motivation for visiting the UK so there are many opportunities for us to seize!
“I want to make sure that we are making the most of our assets by applying for a greater chunk of the very large amount of money on offer to strengthen and wider our proposition to tourists. Heritage businesses are a great way to further support our tourism sector and build a stronger ‘out of season’ economy.
“It was also wonderful to have John Walker, Vice-Chair of The Ramsgate Society to talk about the group’s experience with the Heritage Lottery Fund and their objectives for the future. We were also joined by Dr Andy Brown, Planning and Conservation Director at English Heritage (South East) who provided a very inspirational presentation on the quality and quantity of historical assets in the area. Finally Anthony Curwen, Managing Director of Quex gave a lively talk on the diversification of their business leaving many in the room vowing to visit Quex that very weekend.”
The Heritage Lottery Fund presentation formed part of Laura Sandys’ ‘Destination History’ meeting, a project aimed at promoting the area’s heritage in order to encourage more visitors to Thanet, particularly out of season. For more information on how to apply to the Heritage Lottery Fund or for a copy of the Fund’s presentation, please contact Laura Sandys at: [email protected] or telephone: 01843 589434.