A Clevedon project is among thousands of good causes throughout the UK to share in more than £1 billion awarded by the National Lottery during the last year to support people and projects cope with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As the first anniversary of lockdown approaches, new figures revealed today show that over £1.2 billion of good causes funding has been awarded by The National Lottery in the UK during the last year, providing a much-needed boost for the arts, heritage, sport and community/charity sector.
The funding has helped protect the future for thousands of organisations across the UK during the last year.
Curzon Clevedon Community Centre for the Arts, spearheaded by CEO Susannah Shaw, is the oldest continually operating cinema in the UK and has been at the cultural heart of the town for over a century.
The Curzon sits front and centre of Clevedon’s social scene but, when the pandemic first struck, had its revenue streams decimated as its live music and comedy nights, ballet, opera and theatre went on hold.
A crucial £54,000 grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund (TNLHF) kept them afloat and Susannah, who has lived in Clevedon for 35 years and has worked at the Curzon since 2014, admits the funding proved a lifesaver.
Susannah said: “It’s amazing how quickly the carpet was swept out from under us and, at the beginning, everybody was extremely upset.
“It was extremely worrying – but then The National Lottery came in with the emergency fund to say ‘we can help you’ and ‘we want to protect you’.
“National Lottery funding helped us cover the months when we had no idea how we were going to keep going – it was immense.
“It meant that we didn’t have to draw on all our reserves, which is what we were worried about, and ultimately shutting down the cinema forever.
“The National Lottery is one of the greatest ways that arts and culture can be supported – don’t stop playing it.
“I’d never played the National Lottery until I got this job and I realised how important it was for everyone.”
The Curzon is one of thousands of projects nationwide to have benefited from the £30 million raised by National Lottery players every week.
The £1.2 billion awarded by the National Lottery in the last year has gone towards thousands of initiatives and programmes designed to tackle loneliness and isolation, provide support for the elderly and vulnerable young people, and those promoting physical and mental health in the community.
The Curzon used the much-needed injection of National Lottery funding to undertake crucial maintenance work, purchase PPE and reopen safely in the summer when restrictions allowed.
Their 320 capacity has been limited owing to social distancing but thanks to the support of TNLHF, the futures of the Curzon’s 14 staff and 120 volunteers remain secure.
Susannah believes brighter days are on the horizon and hopes reopening in April can kickstart a successful 2021.
“Plan A is that we can open in April,” she added.
“We just know people need to come out to the big screen. The grants we’ve had so far have kept us going. Looking ahead, in April, we have three months of events and films already planned.”
To find out more about how The National Lottery supports good causes throughout the UK, visit www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk
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