Last week, we received the news we have all been waiting for. The Heritage Lottery funding applied for by Medway Council was granted by the HLF and confirmed in a letter to Tracy Stringfellow, the Eastgate House Project Manager.

The HLF award is a grant of up to £1,281,100 – 59% of the total eligible project cost – towards works to repair and transform Eastgate House into a heritage, arts and cultural attraction.

The monies are granted for the following purposes;

• Repair and restoration work to internal spaces and exterior fabric
• Installation of a lift and shaft between the ground and second floors including alterations to the existing lean-to structure
• Reinstatement of the 17th Century staircase between the ground and second floors
• Ground floor conversion including an education room, entrance hall, an interpretation area, kitchen and washroom facilities
• First floor conversion including three function suites and an activity room
• Second floor conversion into five gallery spaces and three stores
• Third floor conversion into two offices and a storage space
• A programme of learning, engagement and volunteering

Medway Council will be contributing an additional £700,000 to the project which leaves £140,000 to be raised. The City of Rochester Society have already committed to £6,500 of this and the Friends of Eastgate House are embarking on a concerted fund raising campaign for the beginning of 2013.

Mark Reckless, the MP for Rochester and Strood, welcomed the grant news. He said: “The Heritage Lottery Fund is to be congratulated for granting Eastgate House vital funds. Eastgate House has stood proud in Rochester since the late 1590s.

“With the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund, Eastgate House will be reinvigorated as a tourist as well as community centre piece in the heart of Rochester for future centuries following this decision 200 years after Dickens’ birth.”