THE trust which runs York’s museums and gallery is set to receive £1 million in government funding to help it thrive, protect jobs and preserve opening hours.
York Museums Trust is one of nine civic museums in Yorkshire and the Humber which will share £3.53 million between them, including Wakefield Museums & Pontefract Castle, Ilkley Manor House Trust and Barnsley Museums.
The news follows a warning earlier this year from the Trust's chief executive Kathryn Blacker that the city’s museums and galleries were at a critical juncture as concerns mounted over the condition of its buildings.
She told councillors that reducing spending further would undermine quality following cuts made during the coronavirus pandemic which saw 60 jobs axed.
Issues including the Yorkshire Museum’s leaking toilets and roof and a lack of space in the art gallery’s café for visitors to exhibitions were already holding them back, she added.
It followed a warning that visitor numbers to trust-run museums and York Art Gallery would continue to decline without significant investment into improving facilities.
The trust, which runs York Castle Museum, the Yorkshire Museum and city’s art gallery, was forecast to have 19,514 fewer visitors to the sites in 2024-5 than the year before.
The latest investment comes from the government's £20 million Museum Renewal Fund and aims to improve public access to collections, protect community and educational programmes, and help to ensure treasured local and regional museums are fit for the future.
The fund strengthens the nationwide network of museums, ensuring that local communities have access to culture for generations to come while being able to take pride in how their towns and villages have played a role in our national story.
It will protect opening hours and job opportunities for thousands of visitors and local communities, while strengthening museums’ ability to attract tourists and employers to regions across the country.
York Museums Trust was set up in 2002 as an independent charitable trust to manage the museums and gallery service previously run by City of York Council.
The Museum Renewal Fund is part of the wider £270 million Arts Everywhere Fund which is part of the Government’s Plan for Change to support economic growth and increase opportunities nationwide.
In total, £20 million will be shared between 75 civic museums across England to help ensure local and regional museums can be enjoyed for many years to come.
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Museums Minister, Baroness Twycross said: "Museums offer a place where people from all backgrounds can learn, be inspired and delve into our rich history, helping to understand the stories that led us to where we are today.
“The Museum Renewal Fund is contributing to the delivery of our Plan for Change. It ensures much-loved civic museums across Yorkshire and the Humber can remain open and continue to provide opportunities for future generations to learn about our shared heritage and how their local community has played its part in our national story.”
Rebecca Ball, North Area Director at Arts Council England said: “I’m so glad that we have been able to support so many museums in the North through the government’s Museum Renewal Fund. Museums play a vital role in bringing our communities together.
"A trip to a museum is often one of our first experiences of culture, especially those run with the support of local authority funding.
"Museums offer us the opportunity to connect with the past, with the people who came before us and the heritage of places we live, work and visit- they help us to understand who we are. This fund will help to ensure that our museums across the north can continue to be accessed by the communities they serve.”
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