The Steamship Shieldhall Charity has received initial support* from The National Lottery Heritage Fund for its “Steamship Shieldhall: towards 2055, the next 10 years” project.
Made possible thanks to National Lottery players, the project aims to help the historically important heritage vessel continue as an operational, sea-going, passenger carrying steamship, and also play a bigger part in the local community. Development funding of £202,500 has been awarded by the Heritage Fund to help The Steamship Shieldhall Charity progress their plans to apply for a full National Lottery grant of £1.67m at a later date.
Steamship Shieldhall is Europe’s largest operational heritage steamship, and is based at Southampton. Twice flagship of the UK’s National Historic Fleet, Shieldhall is of national and international maritime heritage significance, and without this funding from the Heritage Fund, continued operation would be increasingly difficult, with the ship needing to comply with current and future maritime legislation.
The project will enable extensive conservation work to take place on the ship, which is now over 70 years old, including the provision of new fuel tanks, essential hull repairs, anchor chain replacement and electrical wiring renewal.
Opportunities will be developed for local community groups and schools/colleges to engage with the ship, allowing even more people to benefit from this unique and historic vessel.
Steamship Shieldhall is wholly run by volunteers, and provides opportunities to get directly involved in all aspects of operating and maintaining an historic ship. In addition to volunteering, another way to support the ship – and experience at first hand its operation – is to book a trip on a public sailing.
Martin Phipps, Chairman of the Steamship Shieldhall Charity, said: “We are thrilled to have received this initial support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players we can now develop our plans for vital conservation work on the ship and to achieve greater outreach within our local communities. Our challenge going forward is to raise £250,000 as our contribution towards the delivery phase grant, and we’ll be saying more about how people can help us very soon.”
Stuart McLeod, Director of England – London & South at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “Steamship Shieldhall is an extraordinary piece of our maritime heritage and we’re delighted to support plans that will secure her future for generations to come. Thanks to National Lottery players, this initial support will help the charity develop their plans to apply for a £1.67m grant at a later date. The project is not just for conservation work but will transform how communities can connect with this remarkable vessel.”
Details of volunteering opportunities, public sailings and alongside events can be found on the charity website ss-shieldhall.co.uk
*Grant applications over £250,000 are assessed in two rounds. ‘Steamship Shieldhall: towards 2055, the next 10 years’ has initially been granted round one development funding of £202,500 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, allowing it to progress with its plans. Detailed proposals are then considered by the Heritage Fund at second round, where a final decision is made on the full funding award of £1.67m.
