Read part of the January 2019 newsletter from the Friends of South Cliff Gardens:
The Heritage Lottery Fund announced on 15th January 2019 that we have been successful with our bid for £5M so we will now enter the final stage of what seems like a very long journey. In 2012 the Friends of South Cliff Gardens made a presentation to Scarborough Councillors to voice our concern that the Gardens were at a tipping point. We pressed them to apply for a Parks for People grant of £5M and received their support for the project. It wasn’t until 2016 that we got the green light and we started the project in earnest. Right from the start it was clear that we needed to demonstrate strong community support and there was a great deal of consultation to find out what people wanted from the restoration work.
Then in the middle of 2018 the Saving South Cliff Gardens fund raising appeal was launched to show the Heritage Lottery Fund that there was local support for this project. David Auton, Chair of South Cliff Community Group led on this project and must be congratulated because in a very short period of time we had £116K! This really demonstrated that this was a community led project and worthy of support.
Now the money has been allocated, Southern Green under the direction of Vicky Thompson the Scarborough Borough Council Officer will begin the implementation stage. This will include restoration of the paths, retaining walls, railings, drainage, the Italian Gardens, a new Operational centre, a play area, improvements to access in the gardens by the opening of the tunnel under the Cliff Lift and most importantly major horticultural improvements.
Thanks to all the people who buy Lottery tickets and all the Scarborough community groups that have made this possible.
Download the full newsletter here: …/Newsletter_January_2019.pdf