Capital Theatres, Scotland’s largest independent theatre charity, has announced its success in securing an award of £174,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) towards costs of the development phase in the major redevelopment of the King’s Theatre Edinburgh. Continue reading Lottery support for King’s Theatre redevelopment
This Wednesday at North Edinburgh Arts from 6 – 8pm
Wednesday 24th April 6 – 8pm at North Edinburgh Arts
Leith-based Disability History Scotland (DHS) has received a grant of £10,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) to support Unwritten, a live show written and performed by disabled artists, to premiere at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this August.
Continue reading Disability History Scotland secures Lottery support for Fringe shows
The Edinburgh and Lothians Regional Equality Council (ELREC) has received £74,300.00 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for the Routes to Roots: Adopting Scotland as a Homeland project, it was announced yesterday. The two year project aims to mainstream the heritage of minority ethnic communities and explore the intertwining histories of Scottish and diverse communities in Edinburgh and the Lothians. Continue reading Lottery funding for ELREC’s Routes to Roots project
New £6 million HQ in Fountainbridge will ‘place creativity at the heart of the community’
The former headquarters of the North British Rubber Company – birthplace of the Wellington boot, the modern motor car tyre and the first ever traffic cone – is to be saved from demolition and transformed into a world-class visual arts centre and creative hub thanks to Lottery funding of over £6million.
Creative Scotland has confirmed £1,728,075 funding and the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) is investing £4,994,000 towards Edinburgh Printmakers and the transformation of the historic former North British Rubber Factory HQ into a new centre for printmaking and creative industries.
The HLF grant is inclusive of a first stage award of £500,000 already received by the visual arts charity to develop the project and engage the community with the vast local heritage through creative activities.
The funding from Creative Scotland is in addition to an initial stage one capital funding award committed in 2012 of £60,000 to enable Edinburgh Printmakers to develop their proposal. The funding from Creative Scotland will support artistic excellence and engage audiences in diverse and inclusive exhibitions and education.
The project proposed by Edinburgh Printmakers will save a 19th century category C-listed building of significant architectural and historical value in Fountainbridge from decay and eventual demolition.
Once part of a vast industrial complex manufacturing goods such as rubber boots, hot water bottles and the car tyre, the Castle Mill Works building is now the only remaining physical reminder of what was once a world-renowned rubber factory that, for many years, was at the forefront of innovation and integral to the expansion of the city.
Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Europe and External Affairs said: “Thanks to funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and Historic Environment Scotland to preserve the building, and Creative Scotland’s investment in setting up the new arts centre, Castle Mill Works will be an exciting addition to Scotland and Edinburgh’s cultural scene.
“The money raised through lottery contributions will be used to get this important project off the ground. Edinburgh Printmakers will transform this historic building and in its new form it will deliver a new home for Scottish printmakers and help shape the future of our country, as well as preserve its past.”
Iain Munro, Deputy Chief Executive, Creative Scotland, said: “Creative Scotland is delighted to be supporting the creation of a world class centre for printmaking for Edinburgh Printmakers, an organisation of considerable experience and repute. Edinburgh Printmakers plays an important role in the infrastructure for contemporary art in Scotland.
“This new facility will enable the organisation to build on this reputation by creating a state of the art, fit for purpose building which will be a more visible, accessible, facility appropriate to their needs and aspirations for the 21st century.
“The relocation of the Printmakers to Fountainbridge will unlock many opportunities for the organisation to engage with new and different communities and to partner with a range of schools and community groups.”
In August, Historic Scotland (Now Historic Environment Scotland) announced that they would be awarding £500k of grant funding to the project to restore this important part of Edinburgh’s built heritage.
Commenting from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Dame Seona Reid, Deputy Chair of HLF and Chair of Committee for Scotland, said: “We are delighted that thanks to players of the National Lottery, we are able to unlock the potential of this much-loved building. Not only will it provide a thriving cultural centre, benefitting many hundreds of national and international artists, but it will breathe life back into Foutainbridge. The community is justly proud of its industrial heritage so it is fitting that Castle Mill Works, which once supported so many families, will be the catalyst in its regeneration.”
The ambition to save Castle Mill Works stemmed from Edinburgh Printmakers’ search for the ideal home in which to build a contemporary arts centre specialising in Printmaking and Creative Industries, offering a year-round public programme of exhibitions, events and learning.
Opening to the public in 2018, Edinburgh Printmakers’ new home will be an international centre for printmaking with a state-of-the-art open access workshop, galleries, education spaces, a deli/wine bar with terrace, art retail area and production spaces for a wide range of creative industries. The total cost for the project will be £10 million.
Edinburgh Printmakers will continue to present a public programme of exhibitions, events and activities at its Union Street premises until summer 2018.
Chair of Edinburgh Printmakers, Alastair Snow, said: “We are delighted to have support from the Heritage Lottery Fund and Creative Scotland for this project. These awards will allow us to bring Castle Mill Works back from the very dilapidated state it has fallen into and transform it into a vibrant cultural resource.
“Castle Mill Works was once a powerhouse of industry and invention, our plan will bring production back to Fountainbridge and place creativity at the heart of the community. This neglected area will become a vibrant place to work or visit, foster a sense of community, and offer opportunities for everyone to engage with creativity.
“These awards provide a substantial amount of the funds required to realise the project and are a real vote of confidence for Edinburgh Printmakers as a leading arts organisation. But, just over £2M still needs to be raised. As well as applying to trusts and foundations, we are asking the public to join us on this new and exciting journey and help us reach a target of £10m.”
Sarah Price, CEO of Edinburgh Printmakers added: “The vision for Edinburgh Printmakers as a cultural provider has evolved hugely as a result of this project and in response to the heritage of the building. We can’t wait to get going on delivering artistic exhibitions and activities that will benefit local people and bring visitors to the area. Art has the power to transform lives and places and that is our aim, we have spent many years planning and now with these decisions we can start to make those dreams a reality.”
In the lead up to the opening of the arts centre, Edinburgh Printmakers will showcase a series of temporary artwork commissions at Castle Mill Works that respond to the unique heritage of the grand industrial building and its rich cultural environs.
The heritage of the building will also be a permanent feature within the complete arts centre as the legacy of the building is explored through newly commissioned artwork installations, each uncovering the past and creating a conversation between new and old that can continue into the future.
The project has already attracted widespread support and endorsement with local community groups keen to save the building for future use as a cultural venue.
The announcement of this award coincided with the launch of Edinburgh Printmakers public appeal for donations. The public can help Edinburgh Printmakers reach the £10m target by texting CMWS001 to 70970 to give £5, or by visiting www.edinburghprintmakers.co.uk to donate any amount.
Residents in Portobello are being urged to take a closer look at their own back gardens this weekend to help archaeologists uncover the secrets of the area’s once-thriving pottery industry.
The area has a rich industrial heritage, with a ceramics industry that thrived in the town for more than 200 years.
Dig Portobello, an initiative from Portobello Heritage Trust (PHT) which is supported by the City of Edinburgh Council and The National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund, will see small trenches dug to examine potteries from Portobello’s past.
Councillor Richard Lewis, Culture Convener for the City of Edinburgh Council, said: “Edinburgh has a fascinating history and this project will really allow members of the community to discover sections of Portobello – and their own back gardens – that have been buried for almost 250 years. Budding archaeologists don’t even need to have their own garden to dig in as selected pieces of council-land will also be unearthed.”
Portobello Heritage Trust’s chair Margaret Munro said: “We can’t wait to start digging. We are very proud of our heritage, but want to know more about our industries. This project gives everyone in the community the chance to find out more over an exciting weekend of activities.”
Get involved
The people of Portobello are being encouraged to sign up and dig a small trench no more than 1m x 2m in size in their gardens, with the guidance of professional archaeologists. Those without gardens or people from outside the area can also take part, as the council has given permission for test pits to be dug on selected areas of council-owned land.
A range of activities will take place over the weekend, all based at or starting from The Wash House Community Centre on Adelphi Grove. Volunteers of all abilities are encouraged to sign up for free geophysical survey training on Friday 29 August at 12pm and an introductory talk at 7:30pm. The archaeological explorations will take place from 10am on Saturday 30 August–Sunday 31 August.
The project will also provide guided walks around Portobello and a range of drop-in workshops, including sessions on ceramics, artefacts, and ‘Wee Pottery Workshops’ for children. The full timetable and information on how to sign up can be found at AOC Archaeology.
To sign up for the geophysical survey training, to take part in the excavations, or to register your children, please contact the Portobello Heritage Trust with details of which days you would like to participate. Please specify whether you are digging in your own garden, and please let them know of the address.
Contact Margaret Munro of the Portobello Heritage Trust on 0131 657 2866 or munroporto(at)hotmail.com
A Heritage Lottery Fund project that will bring to life the stories of people with sight loss in Edinburgh and the Lothians a hundred years ago is being launched today.
‘Seeing Our History’ will offer a unique but often grim glimpse of a time when the blind and partially sighted were consigned to the margins of society, almost wholly dependent on the goodwill of others.
Sight loss charity RNIB Scotland has received £55,700 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) to begin the 12-month project.
The aim is to compile a 60-page booklet – in hard copy, braille and ‘talking-book’ formats – to accompany a series of six programmes to be broadcast on the charity’s award-winning Insight Radio station.
The project is indebted to former RNIB Scotland Chair and long-time community activist, campaigner and Councillor Jimmy Cook whose passionate interest in the history of blindness ensured that records survive today.
Dr Catriona Burness of RNIB Scotland said: “We are very excited to have received the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund for this unique project.
“Historical and cultural studies have mainly neglected the experiences of blind and partially sighted people. ‘Seeing our History’ will address this by showing what it was like to have sight loss in Edwardian Edinburgh and Lothians before the First World War. Adults and children endured harsh lives, usually dependent on subsistence work or welfare relief that was conditional on religious conformity.
“This was an era before sight-saving eye-treatments, disability benefits, computer screen-readers and audio-books. If to be poor then was to be at the margins of society, to be blind and poor was to be at the margins of the margins. People had to rely upon poor relief, charitable aid, and meagre supplementary earnings from activities such as hawking, knitting, teaching or playing music, selling tea or keeping house.
“‘Seeing Our History’ will give up to 12 research volunteers, including some with sight loss, an opportunity to develop heritage interest and learn new skills, while also taking the history of blindness to a wider audience who might not previously have given disability much thought.”
The project will base its work on the 1903-10 register of ‘the outdoor blind’ (ie, those not resident in institutions) recently donated by RNIB Scotland to the Lothian Health Services Archive. Details include names, address, place of birth, age when sight was lost, cause of blindness; marital status; how employed; weekly earnings before losing sight and weekly income after, and date of death.
The 1,170 entries in the register will be supplemented by other materials such as census returns, poor relief records, and family papers and wills for the wealthy to enable the project to reconstruct some of the stories of blind and partially sighted people’s lives across social class, gender, occupation, and locality.
Colin McLean, head of HLF Scotland, said “We are delighted to give this innovative project our support. As well as exploring a fascinating and so far largely undiscovered part of our heritage, the project provides opportunities for participants to learn new skills, expand their knowledge and produce a valuable resource for others to learn from, enjoy and be inspired by.”
A major project to rebuild the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh’s (RBGE) 18th century centre of research and education has been awarded £708,700 from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The Botanic Cottage is one of five significant natural heritage projects to benefit from £2.78million HLF funding, bringing HLF’s total support for Scotland’s natural environment to over £50million.
From 1764 to 1821, the Botanic Cottage was the “gateway” to the previous RBGE site on Leith Walk (site pictured above). Here, Professor John Hope, a botanist of international renown and a leading character in the Scottish Enlightenment, taught students about the emerging science of botany. The vision of RBGE is for the building, designed by John Adam, to be rebuilt and used once more as an educational facility.
The cottage had been threatened with demolition but as a result of a tireless community campaign, led by the Botanic Cottage Trust, it was painstakingly dismantled stone by stone in 2008.
RBGE’s Regius Keeper, Professor Stephen Blackmore welcomed news of the funding and commented: “The support of the HLF, with that of many generous individuals and a number of other foundations, will breathe new life into a building with a remarkable and important history. When the Botanic Cottage follows us to Inverleith, almost two centuries after we moved from Leith Walk, it will become the centrepiece of our rapidly expanding programme of voluntary and education activities helping to transform out public engagement. The award is wonderful news for the Botanics.’’
The HLF award allows RBGE to move forward with the final stage of planning and fundraising to close the final funding gap, before the official project start date in July. Construction work for the rebuild is anticipated to start in spring next year.
Since its inception, the Heritage Lottery Fund has invested £52.12million in over 310 projects which conserve Scotland’s landscape and biodiversity, from the Flows of Caithness to the valleys of the Tweed.
Commenting on the latest awards, Colin McLean, Head of the Heritage Lottery Fund in Scotland, said: “This year, the Year of Natural Scotland, brings into focus the natural beauty and biodiversity that surrounds us. It is one of our greatest national assets, attracting visitors from home and abroad and making a valuable contribution to our tourist economy.
“However it’s not just visitors that benefit. With a bit of innovative thinking, we can protect our natural heritage in a way that helps people and communities. We want people to have the opportunity to get involved, to have a say in how the environment is managed, to learn new skills and apply new technologies. We want to help ignite passion for our natural world and its long-term conservation.’’
For further information on the Botanic Cottage Appeal or to donate, visit www.rbge.org.uk/supportus/donate/appeals-projects/botaniccottage
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