Wicksteed Park given emergency National Lottery funding

Kettering's Wicksteed Park has been given an emergency grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, taking their fundraising total to £370,000.

The grant of £247,000 will go towards Wicksteed Charitable Trust's fundraising appeal, which has raised more than £123,000 from the public.

Oliver Wicksteed, chairman of the charitable trust, said the money raised by the public and granted by The National Lottery would go a long way to helping the park recover and prosper.

He said the support from the public has been amazing.

He said: "We are also extremely grateful that thanks to the National Lottery and its players, The National Lottery Heritage Fund is also 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."

Mr Wicksteed said the park alone, without the rides and attractions, costs around £110,000 a month to operate and while the park is unable to open its attractions, it has been left without income and relying on support.

He said: "The trust was able to step in to secure the park in the short term but when we launched our fundraising appeal we deliberately didn’t set a target because the situation regarding coronavirus and the guidelines we are being given are changing on a regular basis, and so the amount we might need to see the park through to next spring and reopen fully is also changing.

"The response from local people has been truly outstanding and we can’t thank them enough for what they have done and what they continue to do.

"One important thing to come out of this situation is that more people now realise that the park is owned by a charity and, as with other charities, it needs ongoing support from fundraisers and donations in order to flourish.

"Traditionally the Trust has not had that but it has now, and long may that continue."

The park is owned by Wicksteed Charitable Trust but a subsidiary company which runs the leisure facilities, Wicksteed Park Limited, has gone into administration.

Wicksteed Park said the huge financial price of lockdown meant the company was unable to avoid going bust, with the loss of 48 permanent staff and 67 part-time and other jobs.

The trust has funded a new company, Wicksteed Trading Limited, which it says is a streamlined business aimed at getting the park through to next spring, when it can hopefully re-open.

The new company has successfully acquired most of the park's assets and is working to secure the remainder, it is also looking at what attractions could possibly open safely as lockdown rules are relaxed.

Wicksteed Park said the £370,000 generated so far will be used for staffing, security, insurance, utility bills, maintenance, refuse collection and looking after animals.

The emergency grant comes as The National Lottery Heritage Fund made £50m available to those most in need across the heritage sector.

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 the Wicksteed Charitable Trust during this uncertain time."

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