Sir Ken Dodd £15m Happiness Centre shelved over lack of funding

A multi-million pound scheme to create a “happiness centre” in honour of legendary Liverpool comedian Sir Ken Dodd will not go ahead after failing to secure funding.

Proposals for the £15m centre, slated to be built next to the Royal Court Theatre in the city centre, were signed off by Liverpool Council last year.

It had been intended to exhibit the late Sir Ken’s vast personal collection of artefacts and joke books, as well as providing performance spaces for budding entertainers.

However, the trustees of the scheme, including his widow Lady Anne Dodd, have “with a heavy heart” confirmed it will not go ahead after failing to secure funding through the National Heritage Lottery Fund.

As a result, the charitable foundation set up in Sir Ken’s name said it was “reluctantly” withdrawing from the project.

The trustees of the Ken Dodd Charitable Foundation (KDCF) and the Royal Court Liverpool Trust (RCLT) had been working together for eight months to secure alternative funding avenues.

But both cited a challenging public funding backdrop for new capital projects, despite having already invested in the development, design and planning of the project with a pledge from KDCF to cover two thirds of the cost of a new build.

Before he died in 2018, aged 90, Sir Ken had set up the foundation to support performing arts charities and organisations across the UK, particularly on Merseyside.

Confirming the decision to not move ahead with the “fantastic idea”, Lady Anne said: “Comedy was Ken’s life, and he was always eager to help, advise and offer encouragement to new comedians and new talent.

“An iconic museum and heritage attraction where entertainers could rehearse and perform, linked to a permanent exhibition of Ken’s treasured artefacts and joke books, would have been a most fitting tribute to a man who was viewed as a national icon, not just in Liverpool.

“It is a shame, despite the best efforts of the Royal Court Theatre and the Ken Dodd Charitable Foundation, that we could not attract the level of funding necessary to turn our vision into reality.”

Gillian Miller, chief executive of the Royal Court Theatre, added: “There simply aren’t sufficient funds available to meet the demands of so many projects like ours at this moment in time.”