The Pilgrim Trust supports the John Rae Society

Trustees of The Pilgrim Trust have made a grant of £35,000 to The John Rae Society guaranteeing the services of the crucial project manager post for another year.

The John Rae Society plans to renovate the at-risk ‘A’ listed Hall of Clestrain at Orphir, the childhood home of Arctic explorer Dr John Rae, as an internationally renowned ‘Visitor and events centre with an Arctic focus.

John Rae Society President Andrew Appleby says of the award: “We are absolutely delighted and hugely grateful that The Pilgrim Trust has seen fit to support us by awarding a grant towards this key post. It will allow us to retain the services of Sandra Deans as project manager who has already achieved so much for the project since joining us, including making successful applications to a raft of funds with more applications in the pipeline, engagement work and overseeing operations as we move towards our goal.”

Project Manager Sandra Deans says: “The support of the Pilgrim Trust speaks to the significance of the heritage of the Hall of Clestrain; the diverse cultural appeal of the John Rae story and the confidence The Trust has in the Society in sympathetically honouring both. The grant will help ensure the project remains sustainable in the longer term. This financial assistance comes at a critical time and enables the Board of Trustees to concentrate on sourcing the large-scale funding required to finally make this project happen.”

Sue Bowers, Director of the Pilgrim Trust, says: ‘We are delighted to support The John Rae Society and their plans to restore the childhood home of Dr John Rae, Arctic explorer extraordinaire. We love the vision and ambition of this project, and recognised that support towards the salary of the project manager post was key in helping catalyse this project to the next stage over the coming year. ’

The Pilgrim Trust is an independent grant-making trust. It supports the urgent and future needs of the UK. Each year it gives approximately £3 million to charities and other public bodies that work on preserving the UK’s heritage or catalysing social change.