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A giant ephemeral land artwork the size of four Olympic swimming pools has been unveiled by Sir Tony Robinson at Whitby Abbey, to mark the 30th birthday of the National Lottery and celebrate the achievements of seven heritage ‘Game Changers’.
National Lottery players raise around £30 million for good causes every week, and since 1994 the National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded over £8.6 billion to thousands of projects. Whitby Abbey itself has benefited from this support, as English Heritage received over £3.7 million between 1996 and 2004 for the Whitby Abbey Headland Project, which included conserving the historic ruins.
To mark the 30th anniversary of the first National Lottery draw, members of the public have been asked to nominate 30 ‘Game Changers’ who have developed and delivered National Lottery-funded projects related to heritage, community, sports, and arts and film. These inspiring individuals are being commemorated through four installations across the UK – and the 5,400 square metre artwork at Whitby Abbey highlights seven people whose achievements centre on heritage, the land, and nature.
Created by land artist David Popa, using the abbey’s landscape and natural pigments painted on to the ground, the ‘Heritage Tree’ depicts tree roots grasped by seven hands representing Sir Tim Smit (co-founder of the Eden Project), Arthur Torrington CBE (co-founder of the Windrush Foundation), Teresa Anderson MBE (Director of Jodrell Bank Centre for Engagement), Chantelle Lindsay (Project Officer with the London Wildlife Trust), Sandy Bremner (convener for the National Park Authority), Lisa Power MBE (LGBTQIA+ rights trailblazer), and Heidi McIlvenny (project leader for Ulster Wildlife’s Sea Deep initiative until June 2022).
For full biographies of the seven ‘Game Changers’ featured at Whitby Abbey, and to read more about the wider initiative, see http://www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uw
Text: C Hilts / Image: David Popa/The National Lottery
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