St Grwst’s Church has received National Lottery support to help address the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on heritage

St Grwst’s Church in Llanrwst has received £1,600 from The National Lottery Heritage to help towards day to day running costs.

Since the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown began St Grwst’s Church has been closed and plans to officially open the refurbished building on Easter Sunday, by the Bishop of St Asaph, were cancelled. Since then the church and newly created interpretation telling the story of St Grwst’s and its links with Llywelyn the Great have been closed to visitors.

In 2018 St Grwst’s was awarded £707,700 from the National Lottery to upgrade the building and enable it to remain as a place of worship, while also serving a dual purpose as a heritage and tourist attraction, bringing visitors and the local community together. New disabled access, vital repairs and upgrading work to the buildings had just been completed when lockdown happened.

Today’s award from The National Lottery Heritage means electricity bills and water rates for the heritage site can be covered.

Olwen John, one of the project team and a server at St Grwst’s, said: “Thanks to the National Lottery and its players we can now pay the day-to-day running costs of the building. We’re grateful that The National Lottery Heritage Fund is supporting us at this crucial time – it’s a lifeline to us and others who are passionate about sustaining heritage for the benefit of all.”

The funding, made possible by National Lottery players, was awarded through The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Heritage Emergency Fund. £50million has been made available to provide emergency funding for those most in need across the heritage sector.

The UK-wide fund will address both immediate emergency actions and help organisations to start thinking about recovery.

Ros Kerslake, Chief Executive of The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “Heritage has an essential role to play in making communities better places to live, supporting economic regeneration and benefiting our personal wellbeing. All of these things are going to be even more important as we emerge from this current crisis.

“Thanks to money raised by National Lottery players we are pleased to be able to lend our support to organisations such as St Grwst’s during this uncertain time.”

Like St Grwst’s, other charities and organisations across the UK that have been affected by the unprecedented impact of the coronavirus outbreak are being given access to a comprehensive package of support of up to £600 million of repurposed money from The National Lottery. This money is supporting some of the most vulnerable people in our communities and span the arts, community, charity, heritage, education, environment and sports sectors.

Thanks to National Lottery players, £30 million is raised every week for good causes, including heritage of local and national importance. By playing The National Lottery, people up and down the country are making an amazing contribution to the nationwide-response to combatting the impact of COVID-19 on local communities across the UK.

The National Lottery Heritage Fund is currently open to applications for its Heritage Emergency Fund. To find out more visit: https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/responding-coronavirus-covid-19

To find out more about the National Lottery Good Causes , visit: www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk/coronavirus-pandemic-response

ENDS

About St Grwst’s Church

Built originally in 1170, St Grwst’s is reported to be the only church dedicated to the saint. After being partially destroyed during Owain Glyndwr’s uprising in the 1400s it was fully demolished during the War of the Roses in 1468. The building that stands today was constructed in 1470, with further alterations and additions made over the following centuries.

St Grwst is one of 214 churches in the Diocese of St Asaph, one of the six dioceses in the Church in Wales, an independent Province of the Anglican Communion. St Grwst is part of the Aberconwy Mission Area which links churches along the Conwy Valley and Llandudno Junction.

About The National Lottery Heritage Fund

Using money raised by the National Lottery, we inspire, lead and resource the UK’s heritage to create positive change for people and communities, now and in the future. www.heritagefund.org.uk #NationalLotteryHeritageFund

The Heritage Emergency Fund remains open for applications for grants ranging from £3,000 to £250,000 until 30 June 2020. Extra advice and support and longer-term skills and capacity building initiatives has also been made available for the heritage sector. Read more about The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s response to the Covid-19 emergency.

About the National Lottery

• Since The National Lottery’s first draw took place on 19 November 1994, more than £40 billion has been raised for good causes in the areas of arts, sport, heritage and community.
• National Lottery players contribute around £30 million to good causes every week.
• The National Lottery has made more than 5,500 millionaires but its primary purpose is giving to good causes – over 565,000 individual grants have been awarded across the UK, that’s the equivalent of 200 life-changing projects in every UK postcode district.