**Please note: The Monastery will be closed to the public for the festive break from Mon 23rd of December, 2024, reopening on Thu 2nd January, 2025**
Heritage & Culture
National Lottery Heritage Fund Grant Awarded to Gorton Monastery
The Monastery of St Francis & Gorton Trust has been awarded a £232,000 Heritage Resilience grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund so that the Trust can continue to develop and deliver its important charitable work in the community.
This exciting project, Unlocking the Social & Cultural Capital of the Monastery, will include plans to ensure that the Grade II* listed Monastery can be future proofed for the years ahead. This extensive programme of development work will begin immediately and run until July 2024. This important grant support will not only ensure the Monastery’s continued success and survival during these challenging times, but it will help to develop and sustain the Trust’s visionary work for future generations across a wide range of health, wellbeing, cultural and charitable activities that serve our community, our visitors and the city.
Planning the sustainability of this precious heritage site is more important than ever before following the impact of recent lockdowns and substantial increases in energy costs. This short-term resilience funding enables us to define the new sustainable operational priorities for the ongoing Quinquennial heritage works and the Carbon Management plans. That detailed work will then inform and evaluate the Trust’s future priorities for its heating systems around new boilers, solar, ground source heat pumps, external works, window seals and external decoration.
The Monastery is one of Manchester’s much loved architectural treasures that was rescued from ruin by local volunteers over 25 years ago and it has been serving the city as a cultural and community resource ever since.
Elaine Griffiths CEO of The Monastery of St Francis & Gorton Trust said,
“Gorton Monastery is already a hugely significant landmark for the people of Manchester and is a well-used community space. Thanks to money raised by National Lottery players, this project will future proof the Monastery and demonstrates how a heritage building can provide a much-loved resource at the heart of the community. The Monastery not only provides an important link to a community’s roots, but its daily programme of activities continues to inspire and support the health and wellbeing of all of its visitors and local residents.”
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 and lasting change for people and communities, now and in the future.
Since The National Lottery began in 1994, National Lottery players have raised over £43 billion for projects and more than 635,000 grants have been awarded across the UK. More than £30 million raised each week goes to good causes across the UK.
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