St Peter’s Sudbury wins £275,500 grant from National Lottery
The Churches Conservation Trust has today received a National Lottery grant of £275,500 from the Heritage Lottery Fund to transform St Peter’s in Sudbury, Suffolk, into an exciting new cultural and community centre.
Made possible by money raised by National Lottery players, the grant is the first stage of an ambitious £2.8 million project to repair and adapt the Grade I listed building in the centre of Sudbury into a multi-use centre for community events, music, arts and performance.
The initial £275,000 development award will enable an expanded community and cultural activity programme to be held at St. Peter’s over the next 18 months and the development of designs to adapt the building, to include a state–of-the-art gallery, installation of toilets and updated kitchen facilities. A Development Officer will be appointed to support the work.
St Peter’s sits at the heart of Sudbury, overlooking the town’s bustling market place. The building currently hosts a series of music concerts, live performances and community events run by the Friends of St Peter’s and is home to the Bridge Project Café.
Commenting on the award, Peter Aiers, CEO of The Churches Conservation Trust, said: “We’re thrilled to have received support from the National Lottery for the first stage of this ambitious project to transform St Peter’s into a first-class cultural centre, a project that will revolutionise opportunities for people to take part in and experience the arts in Sudbury. We’d like to extend huge thanks to HLF and National Lottery players for this award and to express our gratitude to the Friends of St Peter’s and all those who have helped fund and support this project to date.”
In order to release the HLF award, the Friends of St Peter’s (FoSP) are making an initial contribution of over £33,000. Explaining the importance of the HLF support, Oliver Forder, the Chair of FoSP, said: “We are incredibly excited about the HLF award and the CCT support. St. Peter’s is already an architectural gem, and we now have the opportunity to turn this beautiful ancient building into a cultural and community centre fit for Sudbury in the 21st century.”