insideKENT Magazine Issue 75 - June 2018 | Page 164

CHARITY
KENT MINING HERITAGE FOUNDATION
REACHES £1M FUNDRAISING MILESTONE
The Kent Mining Heritage
Foundation is celebrating reaching
a momentous £1 million of funding
towards its £1.8 million target for
the development and support of
the Betteshanger Project.
What does the Kent Mining
Heritage Foundation do?
The Kent Mining Heritage
Foundation (KMHF) is a registered
charity (charity no. 1165403)
working to collect, preserve and
promote Kent’s coal mining
heritage, alongside helping to
provide state-of-the-art facilities
to promote leisure, health and
social welfare.
The Foundation is currently working in partnership with Betteshanger
Park, the Hadlow Group, Aylesham and Elvington & Eythorne Heritage
Centres to support the Betteshanger Project, near Deal.
What is the Betteshanger Project?
Betteshanger Sustainable Parks is a unique and ambitious project being
built on the former Betteshanger Colliery. The first phase of the project
is well underway and includes a new £9.5 million Visitor Centre,
encompassing the Kent Mining Museum and a Green Energy Centre.
The new facility will be an architectural icon boasting Kent’s best EPC
rating and have BREEAM Excellent certification. It will provide retail,
cycling facilities, education, conferencing, events, gardens and public
spaces, as well as offering an outstanding entrance to the 250-acre
country park with its exceptional leisure and recreation facilities.
Why is the Betteshanger Project so important?
Betteshanger Park would not exist had it not been for the extraordinary
history of Betteshanger Colliery, which shaped the unique lands