The Bishop's Palace in Wells has announced that is has received £250,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to help it to address the impact of the coronavirus crisis.

Since the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown, the palace has been doing its best to mitigate against the worst.

The site was closed from March 23 until May 24 and suffered catastrophic financial losses. Since re-opening, the palace has seen great support from locals and tourists alike, especially since the introduction of its new "People's Ticket" which allows ticket holders to visit for 12 months.

Rosie Martin, chief executive of the Palace Trust, said: "Thanks to the National Lottery and its players, we can now bring back all our remaining staff from furlough, enabling us to plan our future and to ensure that visitors can continue to enjoy this wonderful site.

"We will also be able to make specific adjustments which are necessary to adapt to the new normal, including developing our indoor café in a safe way so that we can continue to provide our visitors with delicious food throughout autumn and winter.

"We're grateful that the National Lottery Heritage Fund is supporting us at this crucial time – it's a lifeline to us and others who are passionate about sustaining heritage for the benefit of all."

The funding, made possible by National Lottery players, was awarded through the National Lottery Heritage Fund's Heritage Emergency Fund.

Fifty million pounds was made available to provide emergency funding for those most in need across the heritage sector.

The UK-wide fund aimed to address both immediate emergency actions and help organisations to start thinking about recovery.

Ros Kerslake, chief executive of the National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: "Heritage has an essential role to play in making communities better places to live, supporting economic regeneration, and benefiting our personal wellbeing.

"All of these things are going to be even more important as we emerge from this current crisis.

"Thanks to money raised by National Lottery players we are pleased to be able to lend our support to organisations such as the Bishop's Palace and Gardens during this uncertain time."

Like The Bishop's Palace, other charities and organisations across the UK that have been affected by the unprecedented impact of the coronavirus outbreak are being given access to a comprehensive package of support of up to £600 million of repurposed money from the National Lottery.

This money is supporting some of the most vulnerable people and span the arts, community, charity, heritage, education, environment, and sports sectors.