The Sandstone Ridge Trust wins Heritage Lottery Fund Support

The Sandstone Ridge Trust has received a grant of £97,200 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) to continue work on the Cheshire Sandstone Ridge. The project will focus on the conservation of the natural beauty of the Ridge and investigate ways in which it can be managed and protected for future generations.

The Cheshire Sandstone Ridge has benefitted from a series of landscape-based projects over the last ten years, most recently by the HLF-funded 'Habitats and Hillforts Landscape Partnership Scheme' (2008-12) and the 'Ridge, Rocks and Springs' project (2014-2017). These projects have generated significant public goodwill and notable landscape and heritage improvement along the Ridge.

The Sandstone Ridge Trust was established in 2011 to continue and complete these projects. It has now reached a stage in its development where it needs support to develop the skills, knowledge and leadership which are required to develop a long-term and sustainable delivery model, thus ensuring that the special qualities and natural beauty of the Cheshire Sandstone Ridge are managed and protected.

The HLF grant will allow the Sandstone Ridge Trust to consider a range of delivery models that will meet these challenges, and which will aim to develop a broad partnership of landowners, agencies, administrators and other stakeholders along the Ridge. Together, they will work towards embedding the protection, management and enjoyment of the Cheshire Sandstone Ridge into local and national policy.

Commenting on the award, Chair of Trustees, Andrew Hull said: "We are thrilled to have received the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund and we are confident that the project will be a key element in the future protection and management of the Cheshire Sandstone Ridge."