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National World - LocalTV
  • 7 weeks ago
A multi-million pound scheme to create a happiness centre in Liverpool will not go-ahead after failing to secure funding.
Transcript
00:00A multi-million pound scheme to create a happiness centre in honour of one of Liverpool's most
00:05famous sons will not go ahead after failing to secure funding.
00:10Last August proposals for the £15m Sir Ken Dodd Happiness Centre were signed off by Liverpool
00:15Council to be built next to the Royal Court Theatre.
00:18The site was designed to create an environment in which to exhibit Sir Ken's vast personal
00:22collection of artefacts and joke books spanning some seven decades.
00:27It had been hoped works would begin this year with a view to opening in 2026.
00:33Trustees of the scheme, including Sir Ken's widow Lady Anne, have confirmed it will not
00:37go ahead after failing to secure funding through the National Heritage Lottery Fund.
00:42As a result, the Charitable Foundation set up in the late comedian's name has withdrawn
00:46from the project.
00:48Since last December, the trustees of the Ken Dodd Charitable Foundation and the Royal Court
00:52Liverpool Trust have been working together for the past eight months to secure alternative
00:57funding avenues, but both have cited a challenging public funding backdrop for new capital projects.
01:04Both have already invested in the development, design and planning of the project, with a
01:08pledge from the Ken Dodd Charitable Foundation to cover two thirds of the cost of a new build.
01:15Before he died in 2018, aged 90 Sir Ken had set up the foundation to support performing arts
01:20charities and organisations across the UK, but particularly here in Merseyside.
01:24The foundation is run by trustees, including Anne Lady Dodd, who is the charity's lead and
01:29has played an incredibly active role supporting many good causes since the passing of her husband.
01:35And while the Happiness Centre won't go ahead, trustees say the money put aside will now
01:39be used to support other good causes in the region in line with Ken's wishes.
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