Unseen Arts is a bold and innovative Community Interest Company, establishing itself as Grimsby’s up-and-coming arts centre. It celebrates all art forms, offering classes, courses and workshops in aerial arts, performance and visual arts for adults, children and young people.
Unseen Arts has received £437,741 funding from Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Capital Fund (HARCF), and £150,000 from North East Lincolnshire Council’s Partnership Schemes in Conservation Areas (PSiCA) repair grant scheme.
The money will be used to regenerate two buildings on Auckland Road on the docks, where the organisation is based, with the PSiCA grant funding external and structural repairs and the reinstatement of lost historic features.
The HARCF-funded redevelopment will see the building transformed into a new community arts centre for Grimsby. The works include a brand-new visual arts studio with dedicated ceramics facilities, an arts café and event space, and a renovated and extended performance studio. Makers’ spaces will also be created for artists to hire.
In addition, essential repairs are being carried out to the building, including work on the roof, the installation of an accessible toilet and the reinstatement of the building’s historic windows.
Since 2017, North East Lincolnshire Council has been working in partnership with Historic England (HE) and Associated British Ports (ABP) to help bring buildings on the Port of Grimsby back into use.
In October 2017, the Council secured ABP’s agreement for the designation of a Conservation Area covering the historic Kasbah area within the Port, which is described by Historic England as the most important representation of industrial scale fishing in England.
Following this, a five-year Heritage Action Zone (HAZ) programme of heritage-led regeneration projects was granted for an area covering the Port, Alexandra Dock, the Town Hall, and the St James/Minster area of Grimsby Town Centre.
Through this programme, five-year funding was made available from Historic England via a Partnership Schemes in Conservation Areas (PSiCA) grant scheme. This, along with North East Lincolnshire Council’s matched funding, has contributed more than £1million so far to help repair historic buildings on the Port of Grimsby, including Alfred Enderby’s, The Great Escape and others in the same area.
A second round of PSiCA funding was approved earlier this year to continue the grant scheme for a further three years, supporting additional businesses and not-for-profit community organisations to set up work spaces here.
Unseen Arts co-founders Lynsey Wells and Natasha Morley are excited to be able to use their funding to help renovate the historic buildings from which they set up their community interest company back in 2024.
They offer classes, courses and workshops in aerial arts, performance and visual arts, including facilities for painting, drawing, printmaking, sculptural work and digital art.
Lynsey and Natasha said: “We’re thrilled to share that Unseen Arts C.I.C. has secured £587,741 to kickstart the transformation of our historic home at 6 Auckland Road into a Community Arts Centre.
“Thanks to Historic England, The UK Government and North East Lincolnshire Council’s PSiCA scheme, the first phase of our redevelopment is fully funded and ready to go.
“This capital will deliver essential heritage repairs and core internal works – making the whole building safe, watertight, and ready to use.
“We started Unseen Arts less than two years ago with a mission to create a holistic arts hub in Grimsby, and thanks to so many people, every day we get closer to making it a reality.”
Cllr Hayden Dawkins, NELC Portfolio Holder for Culture, Heritage and the Visitor Economy, said: “It’s good to see life coming back into the older buildings on our historic docklands, and to see grant schemes being used by new businesses and community interest companies to bring these buildings back into use.”
David Walsh, the principal adviser for partnerships at Historic England said: “We are delighted to have been able to support this scheme for another three years, providing funding with NELC through the Partnership Scheme in Conservation Areas grants. The restoration and reuse of historic buildings like this is a key step towards the docks becoming a thriving area once more, and we look forward to helping more local businesses and community groups grow.”
Andrew Dawes, Regional Director of the Humber Ports said: “Associated British Ports is proud to support the PSiCA grant scheme. It’s great to see local businesses wanting to invest in a future and choose Grimsby as their port of choice.”
To enquire about the PSiCA scheme please contact the Project Manager, Stella Jackson at [email protected]
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