The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Historic England, on behalf of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), has awarded a £2.9m grant to London’s Alexandra Palace.
This funding, part of the £1.57bn Culture Recovery Fund, will help save the iconic site from the risk of closure after it was hit hard by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is the largest Culture Recovery Fund grant distributed to date.
Ros Kerslake, CEO of the National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “Alexandra Palace is a jewel in the crown of London’s heritage, with commanding views over the city, important parkland and the National Lottery-funded Victorian theatre.
“Like so many organisations that rely on visitor income from events – from snooker to summer festivals – the Trust was facing a perilous future due to the COVID-19 crisis.
“The leadership and the team at Ally Pally have done an amazing job in recent years creating a sustainable and important cultural destination serving some of London’s most deprived communities in the borough of Haringey. We are delighted to be part of helping them to survive and thrive through this difficult time.”
Since the iconic venue was built in 1873, the ‘Ally Pally’ or ‘People’s Palace’ has hosted some of the most iconic moments in modern entertainment history and it is one of the United Kingdom’s largest independent venues.
In a normal year, the Palace delivers over 250 events, provides more than 20,000 work opportunities and contributes nearly £170m to the wider economy. However, once the pandemic hit, the venue had to take a different approach to generate income.
Throughout the pandemic, the organisation took its creative learning programme online to deliver art, literature, dance, poetry and music activities for young people, families, schools, disabled people and care home residents. In April, the Palace was transformed into a food distribution hub.
Yet, without being able to undertake its normal commercial activities, the organisation had been facing an uncertain future and the possibility of closing some areas of the site.
The government’s grant changes that, as it will fund vital costs to enable the Trust to continue to maintain the listed palace and 196-acre park. It will also enable the Ally Pally to deliver its programme of cultural events and creative learning activities that support some of the most vulnerable people in the community.
Louise Stewart, Alexandra Park and Palace Charitable Trust CEO, said: ‘We are hugely grateful to The National Lottery Heritage Fund, Historic England and DCMS for their critical support at a time when organisations such as ourselves are facing overwhelming financial challenges due to the impact of the pandemic.”
Last week, the National Lottery Community Fund announced it had distributed more than £650m to communities across the UK throughout 2020 (January 1 to November 25), thanks to National Lottery player spend.