Richmondshire Local History Museum - Heritage Lottery Fund Grant
April - October
10.30am - 4.00pm
RICHMONDSHIRE MUSEUM SECURES HERITAGE LOTTERY FUND GRANT
Richmondshire Museum has received a grant of £49,700 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) under its Your Heritage programme. The money will be used to establish a Discovery Centre in rooms recently acquired from Richmondshire District Council.
The new Discovery Centre will combine an educational room to provide an exciting learning experience for groups, with an interactive gallery offering hands on experience and role play through an initial focus on a Sanderson painting of Richmond Market Place. It will target younger learners and their families so that they can explore their local heritage and it will enable more of the Museum's artefacts to be put on public display.
Fiona Spiers, Head of HLF Yorkshire and the Humber, said: "This is a great project that will help bring the Museum's collections to life for everyone to explore. HLF is dedicated to supporting projects that open up heritage for locals and visitors to learn about and enjoy, and the new educational facility will be a fantastic addition to Richmondshire Museum."
Workshops will be provided for schools, families and groups and an ongoing oral history programme will be carried out in the Centre and recordings prepared. Conservation and cataloguing of the collection will be undertaken and volunteers trained in these skills. There will be new opportunities for local people to become more involved with their local museum.
As part of the conversion work a new unit adjacent to the Fenwick shop will be established. This will be based on the former Richmond Ironmongers' shop of Robert Spence and Co.
The Museum's Patron, Foreign Secretary the Right Honourable William Hague MP said: "I was delighted to hear that the Richmondshire Museum had received a Heritage Lottery Fund grant to provide a new gallery and education room. This is great news and will enhance the facilities already on offer at the Museum".
Chairman Mike Wood commented that this was an important milestone in the history of the Museum and will secure its future for many years to come. The grant is the culmination of the efforts of all those concerned and will provide a new facility for the people of Richmondshire and also its many visitors. "We are grateful to Heritage Lottery Funding" he said "and it is gratifying that HLF should have confidence in the Museum's plans for the future".