The local Member of Parliament for Kingswood, Chris Skidmore MP, has welcomed the announcement of the second round of the Culture Recovery Fund with a visit to Avon Valley Railway.
Chris has welcomed the news that Avon Valley Railway will benefit from £97, 400 to help with its recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, as part of the new round of funding from the Culture Recovery Fund.
The Culture Secretary announced the award earlier this month as part of nearly £400 million which has been awarded to thousands of cultural organisations across the country, including £283,959 in Kingswood, in the latest round of support from the Culture Recovery Fund.
The Culture Recovery Fund is a £1.57 billion fund to tackle the crisis facing our most loved cultural organisations and heritage sites.
Chris was pleased to visit Avon Valley Railway on Friday to catch up with staff following their recent re-opening and to discuss how this latest round of grant funding will assist in their recovery.
Roger Eynon, the Railway's Chairman said: “We’re really pleased to be awarded the grant from the Culture Recovery Fund, in recognition of the difficult year that we’ve had. We’re able to use the money to help us deal with the backlog of work that we had to put on hold by coronavirus and to help us grow our volunteer base in the future.
“Because of the significant downturn in trade we’ve also used up a lot of our financial reserves and the fund will also enable us to re-fill these, giving us a brighter outlook from what has been a particularly bleak year. It was great to be able to share this news with Chris Skidmore as he's been particularly supportive of us during the pandemic.”
Chris said: “I am all too aware of the impact that COVID has had on our world-class cultural, creative and heritage sectors and so I am delighted that Avon Valley Railway will be receiving this funding as they re-open. I have visited the Railway many times over the years, having been born and grown up locally, and I have always been impressed by the excellent service that they provide for our local community.”
