37 local heritage sites to benefit from £15 million boost to breathe new life into communities across England
Source: gov.uk (2025-08-06)

Heritage buildings are set to benefit from £15 million of funding as part of the government’s ongoing commitment to ensure our heritage is fit for the future

- 37 local heritage sites will receive grants to help with repairs, in many cases helping turn historic buildings into the vibrant community spaces people need today
- Fund will deliver on the government’s Plan for Change by increasing opportunities and ensuring communities can enjoy heritage in the places they call home
Unseen Arts in Grimsby, MusicAbility Centre in Penzance and St Michael’s Mount Artist’s Studio in Newcastle are among 37 projects set to receive a share of more than £15 million through the government’s Heritage at Risk Fund.

The funding will support repair works and conservation of heritage buildings at risk, restoring local heritage to ensure it can be enjoyed for many generations to come.

These projects will provide much needed funding to ensure heritage buildings are fit for the future so they can continue to tell our national story at a local level in communities across the country. The fund has prioritised projects that will restore heritage sites serving disadvantaged communities and which demonstrate strong local benefits, from job creation to cultural events.

The Heritage at Risk Fund is part of the £270 million Arts Everywhere Fund, which was announced by the Culture Secretary earlier this year. The fund will deliver on the government’s Plan for Change by breaking down barriers to opportunity by transforming historic buildings, creating jobs and spaces that are fit for communities to enjoy in the places they call home.

Heritage Minister, Baroness Twycross said:

Our extraordinary heritage weaves together the stories that define who we are as communities and as a nation, connecting us to the generations who came before us and shining a light on the pathways that brought us to where we stand today.

We are delivering on our Plan for Change, through the Heritage at Risk Fund, by breathing new life into treasured places, buildings and monuments across the country, helping to increase opportunities and ensuring that future generations have access to our rich heritage.

Some of the recipients of the fund include:

Unseen Arts, in Grimsby, which will receive a share of over £430,000 to create a new creative community centre on Grimsby’s historic docks. The funding will repair and convert two unlisted historic buildings in the Kasbah conservation area, celebrating the historic docks, breathing new life into what was once the world’s largest fishing port, at the heart of Grimsby’s local identity. The creative community centre will provide a programme of movement classes, visual arts workshops, exhibitions and performances, outreach and open days, and a café, creating jobs for local people and driving economic growth.

MusicAbility Centre in Penzance, which will receive more than £400,000 to restore the music centre and deliver music to the community. The project involves a full restoration of the elegant building, built in 1828, bringing it back into public use as the MusicAbility Centre. The building will welcome visitors 250 days annually, offering music lessons and groups, music therapy and regular concerts. The MusicAbility Centre will add to Penzance’s rich cultural legacy by sharing the beauty of music, ensuring young people have access to learn and experience music and the arts, with a performance space to host inclusive programmes.

Two Grade II listed Hobby Rooms on Newcastle’s Byker Wall Estate, which will receive more than £98,000 of funding. Karbon Homes will convert Spires Lane hobby room into a new community hub, whilst St Michael’s Mount will become an artist’s studio for creative production and community engagement. These unique buildings were originally designed as part of architect Ralph Erskine’s bold 1960s social housing vision to encourage community interaction. After years of neglect, the funding will restore their original purpose whilst addressing contemporary needs. The project is part of Karbon Homes’ Fair Foundations approach to place-making, delivering projects and initiatives in its communities that help make lasting change and support social growth.

Lou Brennan, Director of Regions at Historic England said:

Thanks to the extra funding from the Heritage at Risk Capital Fund, we are able to breathe new life into neglected historic buildings that we haven’t been able to help through our existing grant schemes. This initiative will not only boost economic growth but also create amazing opportunities for people in some of the nation’s most disadvantaged areas.

We’re thrilled to support projects that harness the power of heritage to make a real difference where it’s needed most.

Notes to editors:

Full list of recipients receiving a share of the fund:

North East
- Woodhorn Colliery Shaft Heads, Ashington, Northumberland - £997,265
- Byker Estate Hobby Rooms, Newcastle upon Tyne - £98,735
- Tyre Shop, Sunderland, 177 High St West, Sunderland - £858,208
- St Michael’s Mount Artist’s Studio, Newcastle - £42,047
Yorkshire:
- St Catherine of Siena, Sheffield - £497,615
- St John’s Church, Goole, East Yorkshire - £100,000
North West
- Salford Lads Club, Greater Manchester - £437,961
- Gawthorpe Great Barn, Burnley. Lancashire - £337,975
- Morecambe Winter Gardens, Lancashire - £767,222
- Tullie House, Carlisle, Cumbria - £200,000
- National Waterways Museum, Ellesmere Port
- Gosforth Public Hall, Seascale, Cumbria - £424,785
East of England
- Lowestoft Town Hall, Suffolk - £707,000
- St George’s Guildhall and Creative Hub, King’s Lynn, Norfolk - £721,330
- The Iron Duke Public House, Great Yarmouth - £136,500
- Laurel Court, Peterborough - £136,653
- Chapelfield Gardens Bandstand, Norwich - £315,249
- Greenland Fishery House, King’s Lynn - £99,442
Midlands
- Golden Lion, Birmingham - £344,265
- Worksop Priory Gatehouse, Nottinghamshire - £178,147
- Burslem Indoor Market, Stoke on Trent - £1,000,000
- Bethesda Methodist Chapel, Stoke on Trent - £521,737
- St Mary Magdalene, Newark-on-Trent - £151,163
- Corporation Bridge, Grimsby - £495,000
- Bromwich Manor House, Sandwell - £200,000
- Spilsby Sessions House, Lincolnshire - £1,006,000
- Unseen Arts, Grimsby - £437,741
London & South East
- Treadgolds, Portsea, Portsmouth - £485,200
- Church of St Mary the Virgin, Somers Town, London - £639,064
- The Greenhouse Centre, London - £663,100
South West
- Market House (Grade I), Penzance Regeneration Company - £672,707
- Newlyn’s Old Harbour (Grade II*), Newlyn Harbour - £199,301
- Gaumont Cinema, Nudge Community Builders - £253,494
- Toll House at Birnbeck Pier (Grade II), North Somerset Council - £111,496
- Turkish Baths Health Hydro, Swindon - £550,218
- The Folk Pin Factory (Grade II), Gloucester Civic Trust - £142,871
- MusicAbility Centre (Grade II), MusicAbility Foundation - £402,000