Wildlife centre lands cash boost from coastal revival fund

A Northumberland project has landed a share of almost £1million of funding aimed at saving coastal heritage sites for future generations.
Hauxley Wildlife Discovery Centre.  Picture by Jane ColtmanHauxley Wildlife Discovery Centre.  Picture by Jane Coltman
Hauxley Wildlife Discovery Centre. Picture by Jane Coltman

The Closer to Nature project has been awarded £42,192 from the Government’s Coastal Revival Fund for improvements at Hauxley Wildlife Discovery Centre.

The funds will be used to upgrade the entrance road and expand the existing car park help meet growing visitor demand at the centre, run by Northumberland Wildlife Trust.

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It is one of 25 projects on the British coast, including two others in the North East, to be awarded the funding.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan, MP for Berwick, is delighted that the Hauxley project was successful.

She said: “This fund is so useful in giving that vital cash injection to small projects in coastal towns, and I am so delighted that my constituency is once more a beneficiary.

“We have some incredible coastal towns and stretches of beach that are already a hit with visitors and it is fantastic the Government is recognising their importance and giving these boosts where they are needed.

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“This project in Hauxley will help visitors – be they local or from further afield – reconnect with nature.”

The fund, now in its third year, provides grants to coastal heritage sites to fund repairs and restoration. It also supports large-scale projects which are important to local communities but have not yet reached their full economic potential or are facing neglect.

Coastal Communities Minister, Jake Berry MP, said: “From Whitehaven to Weymouth, we’re saving some of the nation’s most cherished coastal heritage assets and landmarks from falling into disrepair. The Coastal Revival Fund also helps regenerate our coastal communities and support them to grow by bringing these sites back to life and making them the focal points of their communities once more.

“It’s all part of our plan to invest nearly a quarter of a billion pounds in our seaside areas by 2020, providing thousands of jobs, training places and opportunities up and down the Great British coast.”