HMS Victory receives additional £5 million boost
Government’s Catalyst scheme continues to stimulate private giving
Culture Secretary Maria Miller today announced that following last year’s amazing £25 million pound donation, the National Museum of the Royal Navy has now been awarded an additional £5 million of match funding support from Government, as part of the Catalyst Endowment initiative. The money will be used to help secure the long term future of HMS Victory, the Royal Navy’s oldest commissioned warship, and is based at the Historic Dockyard, Portsmouth.
The Catalyst Endowment programme is a joint initiative between the DCMS, Arts Council England (ACE) and the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF). Designed to bring new money into the cultural sector, the programme offers match-funding to help arts and heritage organisations secure their financial stability by building a new endowment fund or developing an existing one.
Speaking about the importance of support for regional Arts and Culture at an event at Portsmouth Historic Dockyards, Mrs Miller said:
This is a fantastic result for HMS Victory. Demand for Catalyst endowment grants has exceeded all forecasts, and the match funding provided by my Department, the Heritage Lottery Fund and Arts Council England has encouraged donors to come forward, and to build the endowments which will provide a long-term source of income to some of our greatest cultural institutions.
The Catalyst Endowment Initiative has so far raised £24,658,204 from private donations, with HLF and ACE then providing match-funding to the tune of £11,733,720. When all of the original match-fundraising campaigns have been completed, that investment will have raised at least a further £106 million of new money from private donors.
Mrs Miller also used the opportunity to announce that an incredibly rare peridot and gold jewellery suite, which was at risk of leaving the UK, has been saved for the nation following an export bar being placed on it by Culture Minister Ed Vaizey. Three generous donors have come forward and provided the funds for the V&A to purchase the jewels, securing them for the nation and they will shortly be put on public display for all to enjoy.