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Grant secures immediate future of history group

Thursday, 31st January 2013.

The immediate future of Haverhill Local History Group has been safeguarded by a one-off grant from Haverhill Town Council to cover a shortfall in their rent on the history centre.

The group has the room in Haverhill Arts Centre at a rent of £4,350 a year including VAT, for which they had been receiving a grant historically from St Edmundsbury Borough Council.

Group secretary David Pearse told town council members this week that due to a misunderstanding and misinformation, they had failed to apply to St Edmundsbury for the grant this year.

They had been told the borough had ceased giving grants for core funding of groups, although they now believed this was not the case.

They had raised £1,300 in sponsorship from local companies and members had come up with £800, but they were still £2,500 short.

Councillors agreed to give them the money, which will come back to the council which, as the town hall charity, is the landlord.

Town clerk Will Austin said he could find no specific policy of the borough council not to grant core funding.

Cllr Phillip French who, as a borough councillor sits on the grants panel, explained that a sliding scale was applied to work towards groups being able to sustain themselves financially.

Group chairman Roy Brazier said they would never be able to do that.

Town councillors made a condition of the grant that the group should promote its activities more widely and also provide displays and interpretations about Haverhill history which could be used to put in empty shop windows to make them more interesting.

Cllr Maureen Byrne said they should support the history group. "If we had a museum in the town it would be a wonderful place to put them, but we don't and we must not let the group go under under any circumstances."

Cllr Roger Andre said the history group was of 'inestimable value' to the town as an educational resource.

"They are the only caretakers of Haverhill's history and the key to Haverhill's future lies in our past."

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