THE EVERTON COLLECTION CHARITABLE TRUST

THE EVERTON COLLECTION CHARITABLE TRUST GRANTED HERITAGE LOTTERY FUNDING

The Everton Collection Charitable Trust, set up to acquire the David France Collection of football memorabilia, has announced that it has been awarded a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £954,000, securing the collection for football fans everywhere.

The Trust, which was established in 2005, has been attempting to acquire David France’s unique collection, described by Sotheby’s as the greatest collection of football memorabilia they have seen relating to a single football club. Once acquired, the Trust planned for the Collection to be housed in the Liverpool Record Office where it will be joined by Everton Football Club's own archive, enhancing the Collection's unique status even more.

The Trust's business plan was drawn up to allow football fans, historians, school children and the general public alike to have access to this outstanding collection once acquired. This will now be possible.

Lord Grantchester, Chairman of the Trust said: "We are delighted to be able to announce the success of our Lottery application, this means that the history of Everton Football Club and indeed the history of football on Merseyside has been safeguarded for future generations."

Fellow Trustee, Tony Tighe added: "We have worked hard over the past couple of years to raise funds ourselves and our ‘Heritage Week’ staged in March of this year was a notable success, but this is the icing on the cake! We will now be able to conclude our negotiations with Dr France and have the Collection and Everton's own archive all go into the Record Office. We then have to continue with our task. We want to make the Collection accessible from all over the world via a new website we will be introducing. Various parts of the Collection will also be made available over future years to National Museums Liverpool, The National Football Museum, Anfield and indeed at Everton FC's own museum once the new Stadium has been built."

"I would like to congratulate all my team at the Charitable Trust who have made all this possible and especially David Stoker from Liverpool Record Office and Keith Wyness, Everton FC's CEO who has been so supportive with our quest. Over the coming years we are going to continue to add to the Collection to ensure that it remains as the greatest collection of football memorabilia in the world!"

Jennifer Latto, Chair of the Heritage Lottery Fund North West Committee, commented: "Football is a deep rooted part of our popular culture and its story offers a unique window into social history. Today's news means that this treasure trove will be saved for football fans everywhere, giving new generations the chance to take inspiration from the past."

Liverpool City Council’s executive member for libraries, Councillor Colin Eldridge, said: “What fantastic news! This is an absolutely wonderful collection and a huge amount of work has gone into bringing it to Liverpool. The news from Heritage Lottery Fund means the collection can now be displayed in Everton’s home city, where it belongs. Thousands of people will be able to come to Liverpool Record Office to see one of the finest, most unique football-related archives in the world. It’s a wonderful boost to our preparations for Capital of Culture 2008.”

David Stoker, Liverpool Record Office Manager, added: “We are very proud and extremely excited to be providing a home for this remarkable football archive, which has important information on Liverpool FC as well as Everton FC. I’m delighted that we will in due course be welcoming people from all over the world to the Record Office to see the collection - not just Evertonians but all those with an interest in the history of sport. The grant also provides resources to ensure that the collection is catalogued, digitised, and promoted effectively to a wide audience.”

In addition to the HLF grant, the Everton Collection Charitable Trust has raised over £450,000 over the past two years. This together with the HLF grant will enable the Trust to acquire and then promote and protect the Collection to various target audiences in the future.

Once Everton’s own archive has been added to the David France collection, the enhanced Everton Collection will then be worth upwards of £3 million. (28/09/07)

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