The Old Low Light Heritage Centre on North Shields Fish Quay has been awarded emergency Government funding to safeguard its short-term future.
The heritage centre has received £33,300 from the Culture Recovery Fund (CRF). The money - part of a final £35m tranche awarded to 340 organisations across England by the CRF - will go towards The Old Low Light's running costs for the first three months of this year.
Centre director Guy Moody said it was a relief to receive the money from the CRF, which was launched by the Government in August 2020 with a pot of £1.57bn to help cultural organisations face the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic and to ensure they have a sustainable future.
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He said: "We are very grateful for this emergency support. It is a relief to know that in the short-term, at least, we can continue to open. Before the pandemic we were in a stable financial position, but despite grants over the past two years and some generous donations from the public, like similar organisations, we have been losing money month on month.
“Following the lifting of restrictions, we have done some engagement with the public and now that we have this funding to help pay our bills up to the end of March 2022, we can proceed with our plans to return to operating more like we were used to before Covid-19.
"Hopefully, we will see more people visiting our café and galleries and taking part in our events and activities in the coming weeks and months.”
The Old Low Light Heritage Centre occupies what is the oldest surviving occupied building on North Shields Fish Quay. Standing within the walls of Clifford's Fort, it largely dates back to the 18th century.
It has had numerous uses over the years, first as one of two leading lights guiding ships through the River Tyne, then as an alms house when it provided support for poor and sick mariners, before becoming a training base for the Deep Sea Fisheries Association and later the Maritime Volunteer Service. In 2015, following major renovation, it opened as the Old Low Light Heritage Centre.
The centre hosts exhibitions on the history, heritage and natural environment of North Shields, as well as events and activities, and has a shop and café. It is also used as a community hub.
It's current exhibition, That's Women's Work, looks at the important role of women in fishing and maritime industries over time, and will run until April 9. Another exhibition honours Tynemouth suffragette and community activist, Norah Balls.
Scheduled for April 19 will be The Folk Who Shaped Shields, focusing on the contribution of four inspirational people whose names remain significant today in the area and whose legacies have far outlived their own lifetimes: John Dobson, John Foster Spence, Richard Irvin and Sir James Knott.
Mr Moody said the CRF's support will give the Old Low Light Heritage Centre "breathing space." But he added: "Our focus in the months ahead must be on doing whatever we can to build up reserves and secure the long-term future of the heritage centre.”
Since August 2020, the CRF has distributed cash to around 5,000 organisations and sites across the country, giving a lifeline to theatres, museums, independent cinemas and other cultural organisations adversely impacted by the pandemic and the national and local lockdowns which prevented them from either opening or, due to restrictions, operating normally.
The Old Low Light Heritage Centre has benefitted from the CRF's final round of funding distributed by the National Heritage Memorial Fund in partnership with Historic England.
Emergency funding from this round has also gone to the likes of the Harrogate International Festivals, Liverpool’s contemporary arts centre, The Bluecoat, and Aerospace Bristol, a museum and learning centre whose exhibitions tell the remarkable story of Filton Airfield.
