The English Riviera UNESCO Global Geopark has been awarded a grant of £249,935 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to support a three-year project which will enhance the Geopark’s resilience, community engagement, and its partnerships.

The National Lottery funded project will facilitate organisational resilience with the implementation of a new governance and management framework, diversifying and upskilling the Geopark’s management board, whilst enabling financial modelling to articulate the true cost and value of the Geopark and provide recommendations on diversifying and growing potential income portfolio towards financial sustainability.

The project will see the development of a new website, designed to be accessible for general and educational audiences as well as the scientific community, alongside a social media campaign to grow and diversify audiences. An education plan aims to develop new and improved educational resources that will focus on supporting youth and underserved communities.

This funding will also support the creation of a re-invigorated volunteer programme to secure key roles and activity beyond the project duration, whilst providing opportunities for local organisations to exchange good practice across UNESCO’s global family. At the end of the project, the geopark hopes to share successful stories and best practice to UNESCO partners, to help enhance other organisations.

James Bridge, Chief Executive and Secretary General of the UK National Commission for UNESCO, says: “The UK National Commission for UNESCO is delighted that the English Riviera UNESCO Global Geopark has secured this resilience funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Ensuring that sites and landscapes of international geological significance such as the English Riviera continue to be managed with a holistic concept of protection, education, and sustainable development is integral to their being and it's great that National Lottery players are contributing to this. Through this support, the English Riviera Global Geopark team will be able to build upon the vital work they undertake and communicate essential messages around sustainability and climate adaptation to locals and visitors alike.

The Heritage Fund has been a pivotal source of funding for the UK UNESCO network over recent years and this support makes a huge positive difference to both the local communities where sites are situated and the wider population as a whole.”

Nick Powe, Chair of the English Riviera UNESCO Global Geopark said: “Obtaining this support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund is a tremendous boost to Torbay’s UNESCO designation. For nearly two decades the English Riviera UNESCO Global Geopark, working with Geopark Partners across Torquay, Paignton and Brixham, has been dedicated to raising the awareness of the area’s exceptional geological heritage and its influence upon the local environment, heritage and culture, a story that began 400 million years ago in a warm tropical sea south of the Equator.

“Torbay, the English Riviera, as a Global Geopark, is one of UNESCO’s Global family of places permitted to ‘wear’ the UNESCO badge and this project allows us to maintain, and retain, this unique and prestigious status.  We are grateful to the National Lottery, and all those who support it, for this opportunity to allow more people to access the natural environment, both on land and at sea, for us to pursue a commitment to UNESCO’s Sustainable Development Goals, and, above all, for more people to discover why Torbay is One of Earth’s Extraordinary Places.”

Carloyn Custerson, Chief Executive Officer of the English Riviera Bid Company said ‘our designation as the only resort in the UK to also be a UNESCO Global Geopark is hugely exciting as it gives us all massive opportunities to care for our natural environment and build exciting new Geopark Discovery Experiences for visitors from all round the world, aligning to our strategic objective to grow our visitor economy and be a leading year-round coastal destination.’

We are excited about the opportunities this funding brings and look forward to sharing our progress with the community.

Visit the Geopark website