International Bomber Command Centre saved with emergency fund

Lincolnshire's International Bomber Command Centre has been handed a financial lifeline after losing 90% of its income during the pandemic.

The National Lottery has given the centre £163,00 from its Heritage Emergency Fund to get it back up and running from 21 July.

The centre has had to cancel all group bookings up to at least September.

Chief executive officer Nicky van der Drift said it was in a "very dangerous" position in terms of its future.

Ms van der Drift said because of the coronavirus lockdown it had missed out on holding events to mark Armed Forces Day as as well as other anniversaries including VE Day 75.

She said: "It's not something which we can celebrate again next year - the moment has gone.

"So for us it's not just about the financial impact, it's the engagement - we lost that opportunity to engage with a wider audience who are potentially our customers ongoing."

She added that the centre's income would be severely impacted "for at least a year" because of having to reduce the number of people allowed on to the site in line with social distancing.

"We had £1.5m loan just to get the centre completed in time and although the banks have been helpful, the loan is still there, so our income has died dramatically but we still have that onus on us, plus we have a centre to run."

The centre, which was built to to remember the thousands of crewmen who served in Bomber Command during World War Two, opened in 2018.

It is the only place in the world to commemorate every life lost in the service of the Command by name - 57,861 names in total.

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