More than 400 heritage charities and other organisations are to share £103m in government funding to tackle the financial fall out of the Covid-19 health crisis and lock down.

The heritage sector has been particularly hard hit by the pandemic as charities have been forced to close historic sites or restrict visitor numbers due to social distancing measures.

To “keep venues open and to save jobs and livelihoods” the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DDCMS) has announced a £103m “rescue package” for the sector.

The money will also be used to restart planned repairs and maintenance work charities had planned at historic sites before the pandemic.

The full list of recipients can be found here.

The funding is from the government’s Culture Recovery Fund for Heritage and the Heritage Stimulus Fund, which is funded by government and managed by Historic England the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Of the funding 433 organisations are to share £67m in Culture Recovery Fund for Heritage grants ranging from £10,000 to £1m. A further round of grants of up to £3m is to be “announced imminently”, according to the DDCMS.

Also benefitting are English Heritage, Landmark Trust, Historic Royal Palaces and the Canal and River Trist. The will receive £34m from the Heritage Stimulus Fund to restart construction and maintenance work.

In addition the Architectural Heritage Fund has been awarded a grant through the Culture Recovery Fund through Historic England. This will be used “to support charities and social enterprises occupying historic buildings to develop new business plans and strategies for organisations affected by the pandemic”, added the DDCMS.

Culture secretary Oliver Dowden said: “As a nation it is essential that we preserve our heritage and celebrate and learn from our past. This massive support package will protect our shared heritage for future generations, save jobs and help us prepare for a cultural bounceback post Covid.”

Historic Royal Palace’s chief curator Lucy Worsley added: “At Historic Royal Palaces, we care for six nationally significant buildings, opening them to the public and preserving them for future generations.

“Sadly, the pandemic meant that we had to stop some of our critical conservation work. The grant we have received from the Culture Recovery Fund will enable to this work to resume – so we can give some of Britain’s most historic buildings the care and attention they deserve, while supporting the specialist craftspeople who are vital for the future of our national heritage.”

Last month Historic Royal Palaces announced it is planning 145 redundancies to tackle £100m losses due to the pandemic. The charity’s sites include the Tower of London and Kensington Palace.

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