Islington Mill gets £746,000 grant to safeguard future. Mill director says award will enable the building to “host creativity for the next 200 years”. Guest article from the Salford Star.
The Grade II listed acclaimed arts hub, Islington Mill, has been awarded a huge £746,000 National Lottery Heritage grant to safeguard its future. The funding is for urgent repairs to the fabric of the buildings, plus a wide range of events and activities linked to the Mill’s history.
The Grade II listed Islington Mill has been awarded a £746,000 grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund ‘to bring a new lease of life to the buildings originally built for cotton spinning in 1823’.
The money will be used, the Lottery states, for “urgent repairs to the fabric of the buildings, salvaging the mill from further deterioration and safeguarding its future in time for its 200th anniversary in 2023.”
It will also fund an array of events showcasing the Mill’s history including Witness to Change – the 200 year story of industrial and social heritage associated with the site; Room, Power, People – the story of the people and products associated with the site; and Clothing and Culture- the relationship between clothing and identity explored through the site’s history.
“Across the UK there is an abundance of mills, and our funding is incredibly important for those that hold significant heritage for the nation and stories about people and communities that continue to inspire us all today” says David Renwick, Director of England, North at The National Lottery Heritage Fund
“We’re delighted to have awarded funding to safeguard the future of Islington Mill and ensure that this example of one of our industrial relics – just some of the remnants of the giant industrial complex that once covered the North of England – can continue to thrive as a sustainable business and community hub” he adds.
As well as the grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Mill has also received money from Arts Council England, Salford City Council and over £500,000 was raised by Islington Mill itself (see previous Salford Star article for further details – click here).
“Islington Mill has been a home for creative entrepreneurs for 200 years” says Bill Campbell, Director and Founder of Islington Mill “This award signals our collective intent that the building, and its surrounds, will continue to host creativity for the next 200 years. 2020 is the year we begin to deliver our collective legacy by establishing Salford as a destination for creative practitioners and thinkers, and a Cultural Land Trust leader in the UK.”
Maurice Carlin, artist and Director at Islington Mill adds: “Islington Mill is sustained by, and thrives off, the collective energy, ideas and opportunities brought by artists. I am one of many artists who made artworks to raise funds for the Mill.
“Together we raised over £100,000 which is a phenomenal achievement by any standards” he explains “This latest funding success will secure a long future for the finest surviving heritage building of its kind in the region, in perpetuity for generations more artists to come, guarding against the developing gentrification that has occurred in other urban centres and ensuring artists have affordable studio space and a creative atmosphere in Salford in which to flourish.”
First published in the Salford Star, 14 January 2020
Featured image and in article images: Islington Mill website
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