£1.2m grant for new anti-apartheid education centre near Angel

The development of the UK’s first centre dedicated to raising awareness about the struggle against apartheid has reached a significant milestone after securing a National Lottery grant.

Charity the Liliesleaf Trust UK plans to transform 28 Penton Street – the former HQ of the African National Congress in London – into an exhibition and gallery space, learning centre and community hub. Now organisers have launched a fundraising campaign to help generate the remaining funds needed to reach their £3 million goal.

Organisers hope to start work this year on the new venue, called the ‘The Anti-Apartheid Legacy: Centre of Memory and Learning’, with launch next year, in time to mark 30 years since democracy in South Africa and the end of apartheid.

As well as the National Lottery Heritage Grant, the project has had funding support from bodies including the Mayor of London’s Good Growth Fund and Islington Council.

Professor Chris Mullard, chair of the Liliesleaf Trust UK, said: “We’re really grateful to the Heritage Fund along with our other funders and supporters for making this project a reality. The development of the Anti-Apartheid Legacy: Centre of Memory and Learning at Penton Street and online enables a unique platform from which we will strive to reduce inequality and promote inclusivity through its programmes and events which empower as well as inform contemporary communities and which work towards redressing longstanding imbalances in the perceptions and experience of UK’s multicultural heritage.” 

To find our more, click here, and to donate visit the fundraising page here.