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ROYALTY AND RIVER COME TO LIFE WITH HERITAGE LOTTERY FUND (HLF) GRANTS

THE HLF PRESS RELEASE

Royalty and the River Thames have been major influences on the borough of Richmond over many years and now both are to be explored in a pair of projects that will share more than £78,000, the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has announced.

Royal Connections, a project managed by Orleans House Gallery in partnership with a wide range of local organisations, will focus on the area’s many links with the monarchy throughout history and is timed to coincide with the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II next year.

Memories of Twickenham Riverside will concentrate on five sites that underline the leisure, industrial and historical aspects of the town’s close association with the river.

The history of Richmond is intimately linked with royalty in so many ways spanning hundreds of years. Meanwhile much of Twickenham’s character is bound up in its connection with the Thames. These projects will give members of the community of all ages the opportunity to help discover these stories and tell them to a wider audience,said Sue Bowers, Head of Heritage Lottery Fund London.

Royal Connections has been given a £39,600 grant. The project will investigate the role the royal family has played in shaping the borough including historic buildings such as Hampton Court Palace, Orleans House, and Kew Palace, and landscapes such as Richmond Park. It will also explore the stories of various royal personages and discover how royal celebrations have impacted on the lives of the borough’s ‘ordinary’ citizens.

Residents will be invited to take part in reminiscence workshops to share memories and lend artefacts for public exhibition. The organisers will also be drawing on the wealth of artworks and historic objects to be found in the various palaces, stately homes and collections around the borough, and four groups of residents will be involved in helping to curate aspects of an exhibition that will be held at Orleans House Gallery between April and June 2012. The project will also be used to create new learning opportunities for an estimated 1500 local schoolchildren.

For Orleans House Gallery, Councillor Pamela Fleming, Richmond Council Cabinet Member for Community, Business and Culture, said: I would like to thank the Heritage Lottery Fund for this generous funding ensuring that during the year of the Diamond Jubilee, Orleans House Gallery will have an exhibition celebrating the role that the Royal Family has historically played and continue to play in our beautiful borough.

Next year Richmond upon Thames will play host to a number of exciting events and activities to commemorate this auspicious occasion. I am sure that the Royal Connections exhibition will be a particular highlight.

Memories of Twickenham Riverside, being run by Richmond Environmental Information Centre (REIC), has received a £39,100 grant. Led by the local community, it will focus on five sites: the former Twickenham Riverside open-air swimming pool; Richmond House; Charlie Shore’s Boat House; Queen’s Hall and Eel Pie Island; and historic Twickenham Rowing Club.

Local people will have the chance to record their memories and lend photographs and other documents about these various sites which have continued to generate a great deal of interest in the town over many years. Community volunteers, including young people, will also develop media and communication skills in recording the interviews.

The material gathered will be used to produce a booklet on Richmond House, video clips on the REIC website, an educational website, a DVD and two exhibitions to be held in June and September 2012.

For REIC, committee member Berkley Driscoll said: We are thrilled to have received the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund and are confident the project will support community members to be active citizens with a pride in their local heritage.