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Donald Collister Grants Help Local Heritage Community

– Posted on Friday 14th June 2019

Manx National Heritage has today announced the final award of grants, ranging from £600 to £6,200, from the Donald Collister Heritage Grant Programme.

The programme was originally launched in January 2016, following a bequest from the late John Donald Collister (Donny), a former Colby resident, who left Manx National Heritage an estate valued in the region of £1 million.

Manx National Heritage undertook a public consultation on the use of the funds, which included both cash and fixed assets including Mr Collister’s former home in Colby. Based on the responses Manx National Heritage has funded a range of projects benefiting heritage activities in the community in the South and across the Island

This particular round of grant applications offered small grants to organisations supporting the historic and natural heritage of the Isle of Man including:

  • Local volunteer groups responsible for the care, preservation and conservation of collections
  • Manx heritage trusts and charities
  • Members of congregations or committees of historic churches

Manx National Heritage said:

“Manx National Heritage is pleased to support a range of applications for this round of the programme which provides critical funding to a number of organisations that support and promote the Island’s rich heritage.  We look forward to seeing the delivery of the supported projects in the coming year.  These awards bring the total funding from the two rounds to over £200k in addition to the previous Community Scheme targeted at the area where Donny Collister lived and worked.”

The recent group of awards were granted to:

Ramsey Pier Restoration Trust

Contribution to the restoration of bays 2 and 3 on Queen’s Pier, Ramsey

Colby Methodist Church

Colby Exhibition Project: New fittings to the roof which will allow heritage art work to be displayed.

Visit Laxey Valley

Laxey Valley Heritage Trail: To produce a video to introduce the Laxey Valley Heritage Trail, with actors representing key characters from the Laxey Mining Age, to be displayed in Welcome Centre at Christ Church, Laxey.

The Friends of Jurby Church

St Patrick & St Maughold Window Restoration: To contribute to the restoration of the window as part of a full restoration of the church. Full costs for the window estimated as £14,990. Other funding sources include donations received & via fund raising.

Friends of Old Kirk Braddan

Old Kirk Braddan Lighting Upgrade: To enhance the lighting in the church for The Manx Crosses to include a motion detector; The Old Vestry for use as a Visitor Display area; the overall flood lighting of the ceiling and spotlights on the wall memorial monuments

Port St Mary Commissioners

Mona’s Queen 80th Anniversary: To research & create an exhibition commemorating the 80th anniversary of the sinking of the Mona’s Queen during the Dunkirk evacuation

Great Laxey Mine Railway

Working Safely at Heights: To provide safety equipment for volunteers to safely work alongside the railway line restoring and maintaining the line

Arbory Parish Commissioners

Romance of the River Colby River Heritage Trail Creation: To create a walking trail, signposted with facts about local history, along the Colby River from the sea at Kentraugh to Cronk-Ny-Arrey-Laa, including land once owned by Donald Collister

Manx Aviation Preservation Society

Restoration of the Bofors Anti-Aircraft Guns which were used by the Manx Regiment during the Battle of Britain and campaigns in North Africa and Eritrea

St Georges Parochial and All Saints Church Council

St George’s Heritage Storyboards: To fund the design, purchase and installation of 10 storyboards around the church yard of St George’s Church showing history of notable personalities laid to rest in the church yard

Foxdale Heritage

Foxdale Heritage Centre – North Facing Door: To finalise the restoration of the heritage centre (originally built in 1886) with the bespoke replacement of the North Facing Door, painting in the original colour scheme to match existing restoration.

Laxey and Lonan Heritage Trust Limited

Maintenance Programme for Snaefell Waterwheel: To maintain and repaint the waterwheel at Laxey (2nd largest waterwheel in the world).

Michael Parish Church

Display Boards for Ancirent Stones: To produce a series of display boards across a number of age ranges that will show the key features on the celtic/viking stones displayed in Michael Parish Church

Rushen Heritage Trust

Living with the Sea: A book covering the history of Port St Mary from 1829-1979

GRIN

GRIN: Garden, Recharge, Inspire, Nourish: To build a sense of community through a shared interest in and celebration of the Island’s natural heritage.

Manx Wildlife Trust

Peatland Survey: To undertake a coordinated peat survey across the Island using volunteers, creating a condition assessment protocol. Subsequent conservation work will deliver for Climate Change through carbon storage & sequestration, water management & flooding, Biosphere delivery & have links to cultural heritage through historic use of peat as a fuel and archaeological/paleoecological record.

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