£300 grand Lotto boost for Cardigan Castle

Cardigan Castle, in West Wales, is to receive almost £300,000 in lottery funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF). The castle was bought five years ago by a private owner, and the Cadwgan Building Preservation Trust is intending to renovate the castle, converting it into a heritage centre for the area. They also plan to install a language school to keep the Welsh language alive, and a café to aid the tourism industry for Cardigan.

They are currently looking for as much as £4.5 million from the HLF to undertake all of the work they plan on doing, and have just received £295,500 as an interim payment. They’re hoping that the HLF will grant them the full £4.5 million in 2009.

The £300,000 has just been awarded as part of a series of awards for heritage projects in the UK, totalling £15.6 million.

Jann Tucker is the chair of the Cadwgan Building Preservation Trust, she commented:

The money will allow us to set the project's wheels in motion and means we will be able to employ a project officer.

This is stage one and stage two will hopefully see us receive the full amount.

This is a major, major boost to Cardigan and Ceredigion. The castle ticks all the boxes when it comes to culture and heritage tourism.