Museums Worcestershire 'grateful' for being awarded nearly £240k in funding
Museums Worcestershire was successful in an application for grant funding from Arts Council England of £239,922, which also saw the Museum of Royal Worcester CIO awarded £228,343
Funding awarded to conserve museums and their collections for the future has been 'warmly welcomed' says one of its recipients Museums Worcestershire.
Earlier this week it was announced it had received £239,922 from Arts Council England as part of the government’s £20 million Museum Renewal Fund.
The funding, which aims to help to ensure treasured local and regional museums are fit for the future, has been shared between 75 civic museums, with the Museum of Royal Worcester CIO also awarded £228,343.
As part of it, all funds have to be committed or spent by 31 January 2026 and will cover the financial year 2025-26.
Museums Worcestershire, which run three venues, the Worcester City Art Gallery and Museum, the Commandery and Worcestershire County Museum at Hartlebury Castle, say it will support the conservation and protection of Worcester’s outstanding art collection.
It will also help with the development of new learning sessions to enable the city museums to provide better support for schools and a programme of events at the Commandery to commemorate next year's 375th anniversary of the Battle of Worcester.
Audiences manager Helen Large says it's grateful to have received the funding.
"This really will support the resilience of our museums at at a difficult time," she said.
"It has come at a really good time for us to be honest and I'm sure a lot of museums that have received the funding are breathing a sigh of relief in the same way that we are, the funding picture, it gets bleaker, but we are also very lucky to have support from both of our councils.
"The funding will support us with a programme of events which will both commemorate the really important anniversary of the Battle of Worcester but also enable us to bring more visitors and more tourists to the city and to the Commandery so that's really exciting."