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 (LFLC) a charity which works in partnership with West Lea School (West Lea). It envisaged that the buildings would be re-purposed to provide space for West Lea and community activity, together with a café designed to provide work experience for West Lea pupils. It appears that the decision was based on the assessment that the café element of the project was considered high risk, with concerns that the potential risks outweighed the anticipated outcomes and the NLHF 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 this far. LHBT and LFLC 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.
Correction
Since the original publication of this post on 30th May The Society has been contacted by Learning for Life Charity requesting that we clarify the relationship between them and West Lea School and the reasons given by the NLHF for rejecting the bid. The item above incorporates these changes.