The National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) has rejected a bid for funding the restoration of the Charity School. The bid was submitted by London Historic Buildings Trust (LHBT) and Learning for Life Charity (LLFC), the operator of West Lea School. It envisaged that the buildings would be re-purposed to provide space for LLFC and community activity, together with a café designed to provide work experience for LLFC pupils. Unfortunately it seems that NLHF was not convinced that the business case put forward was sufficiently robust, and it has made it clear that it will not consider an amended application for the same project.
This is quite devastating for the many stakeholders—including the Enfield Society—who have put so much work and money into getting the project so far. LHBT and LLFC say that they are exploring what the next steps will be and we must await further clarification.
In the meantime the Charity School remains in the ownership of the Girls’ Sunday School Foundation, the successor to the charity which founded the school in the eighteenth century. We are fortunate that the buildings are currently occupied on a temporary basis by the Florence Trust, a charity which provides artists’ studios—it is hoped that this can continue while a long-term use is worked out.