Funding

The funding of the restoration project stretches over 10 years.

Ruth Webster of the Groundwork Trust secured grants from Kensington Regeneration and Community 7 totalling approximately £8,700 during her involvement in 2002-04. The majority of this money was spent on employing David Holland to eradicate the Japanese Knotweed infestation in the cemetery over a period of several years, to get a structural reports prepared by Sutcliffe Projects and to purchase a brush cutter with which to tackle the overgrown foliage.

In April 2007, thanks to the interest of staff at Kensington Regeneration, as well as local councillors, activists and fundraisers, a funding committee was set up to approach this task.

Following an initial consultation with the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) in October 2007, the committee made the decision to apply for funding from them in the summer of 2008.

While the complex process of applying for the HLF funding was taking place, we felt it was important to begin restoring the driveway area: to redefine the original driveway, plant flowerbeds in the corners and a spring garden on the raised central bank underneath the tree.

The New Communities Fund (NCF) granted the project £2,000 to be used towards the driveway, which had to be spent by the end of the financial year 2007-08. In the spring of 2008, the poplar tree in the driveway had to be removed, as it was considered in terminal ill-health and was becoming dangerous. This cost £1,527 and photos of the event can be seen in our galleries. The remainder of the funding was spent on replacement trees and other plants to be placed in the driveway area.

Liverpool Charity & Voluntary Services (LCVS) granted the project £7,000 specifically for the driveway, with the JP Jacobs Trust contributing the remaining £1,500 to enable the work to go ahead in May 2009. The outline of original driveway was taken from old maps and reproduced, bordered with pink granite imported from China. The new driveway was covered with Tarmac and will eventually, be topped with bonded gravel which will give a similar appearance to the original. This will only be added after the main restoration of the cemetery, so as not to damage it with heavy machinery.

Dame Lorna Muirhead, the Lord Lieutenant of Merseyside, who is one of the project’s patrons, generously donated £500.

Our application to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) was required to be submitted in two stages. The first stage was to submit an outline of our proposals with approximate figures, on the basis of which the HLF would give us a Development Grant in order that we could prepare a detailed and professional second stage application, with the help of consultants if necessary.

We were successful at the first stage and were awarded a Development Grant of £13,800 in the autumn of 2009. We then tendered for a firm of specialists to help develop our plans in order to submit at the second stage of the HLF application process. We appointed a joint team of Cass Associates and Heritage Works at a cost of just over £30,000. In order to meet the majority of the deficit, we successfully applied to Kensington Regeneration for a further £15,000 which, along with existing funds, allowed us to proceed.

For the project’s development at the second stage, the HLF appointed us a mentor named Ian Baggott, of the Community First Partnership (CFP). Ian fell in love with the project and gave us the benefit of his vast experience in developing the bid. However, the free time that the HLF funded for Ian to work with us expired, so we applied, again successfully, to Kensington Regeneration for a further £3,000 to ensure that he would be able to complete his involvement.

As a requirement of the application to the HLF, the project was required to provide match funding equivalent to a percentage of the total bid. We were particularly fortunate to attract generous patrons, one of whom, Prof E Rex Makin, donated a magnificent £40,000 to the project, which forms a significant part of our contribution to the restoration.

We submitted our second stage application in September 2010, with the total funds requested being £494,000. The plans for the use of this money can be seen here. We were informed in early December 2010 that the bid was successful, sparking great celebrations! We employed a project manager, Annette Birch to supervise the procedures relating to the physical restoration of the cemetery and the restoration itself.

We then employed a volunteer and activity manager, Carol Ramsay, to help us to enthuse and motivate the volunteers that we will need to sustain the restoration.

We found ourselves £5000 short of the required amount to “match fund” the HLF contribution and were very grateful to Riverside Housing Association for donating that shortfall, they have been tremendously supportive.

We continue to be grateful for regular small donations from descendants of those buried at Deane Road, along with other visitors. We accept donations via PayPal and by cheque, and details of how to donate can be found at the bottom of every page of this website.

If you have any suggestions or think you can help the with the restoration of the cemetery in any way at all, please contact us!