UNZT receives funding from the Heritage Recovery Fund

The Ulster New Zealand Trust has been awarded a £35,400 grant from the Heritage Recovery Fund to help recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

 • 91 organisations and individuals have been awarded grants through the Heritage Recovery Fund to help recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic 

• The Heritage Recovery Fund is being distributed by The National Lottery Heritage Fund on behalf of the Department for Communities 

• The fund is part of the £29million Executive allocation to support the arts, culture, heritage and language sectors in Northern Ireland. 

 Paul Hewitt, Chairman of the Ulster New Zealand Trust said:

 “We are most grateful to the Department for Communities and The National Lottery Heritage Fund for providing this funding.  Thanks to this grant we can continue paying vital costs and make critical adaptations so that The Ballance House is safe and ready for visitors when we re-open again.  It also enables the Trust to recover from the loss of income as a result of not being able to conduct heritage tours or host public events in 2020.   

“The Ulster New Zealand Trust exists to promote relations between Ulster and New Zealand and to celebrate the life and achievements of John Ballance.   The Ballance House is a place of unique local cultural heritage and we look forward to re-opening as soon as restrictions allow.”

Paul Mullan, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: 

“We are grateful to the Department for Communities for providing this funding and enabling us to help a wide range of organisations and individuals in Northern Ireland’s heritage sector to recover from the current crisis. 

“The risks to heritage sites, attractions and organisations from a sudden and dramatic loss of income as a result of the pandemic, have put the heritage and visitor economy in crisis, and this funding will play a vital role in their recovery. 

“Heritage has an essential role to play in making communities better places to live, creating economic prosperity and supporting personal wellbeing. All of these are going to be vitally important as we emerge from the current pandemic.” 

To find out more about The National Lottery Heritage Fund, go to: www.heritagefund.org.uk