Alistair Hardaker | Image: Photo © Pete Carr Photography / (L-R) Ryan Lewis, John Lewis MBE, Anne, Lady Dodd, Laura Pye, Liz Stewart, Daniel Porter
Charitable foundation pledges £1.5m over three years after museum project shelved. Theatre to be renamed, centenary display planned for 2027.
National Museums Liverpool has announced a three-year partnership with the Ken Dodd Charitable Foundation, which becomes the organisation’s first Principal Partner through a £1.5 million gift.
The funding will support the transformation of the Museum of Liverpool theatre into The Ken Dodd Auditorium, a new permanent Sir Ken Dodd display opening in November 2027 during his centenary year, and expansion of youth engagement and dementia awareness programmes.
The partnership follows the cancellation of plans for a standalone Sir Ken Dodd Happiness Centre in August 2025. The proposed museum and heritage attraction was to be built next door to the Royal Court Theatre in Liverpool to exhibit the comedian’s personal collection and broader comedy history, but was shelved after the National Heritage Lottery Fund rejected the application in December 2024 and alternative funding could not be secured.
At the time, Anne, Lady Dodd, said the funds set aside for the Happiness Centre would ” “ultimately help other good causes across Merseyside and elsewhere in the UK in the future, in line with our foundation’s mission statement and Ken’s wishes before he died.””
The Ken Dodd Charitable Foundation will become the lead venue partner for Museum of Liverpool, named as the most visited attraction in the North of England in the 2025 Association of Leading Visitor Attractions visitor figures.
The partnership builds on the relationship established through the Happiness! exhibition at Museum of Liverpool in 2024. Funding will support House of Memories, National Museums Liverpool’s dementia awareness programme, providing training, resources and museum-based activities for carers of people living with dementia.
Youth programmes include the existing Youth Engagement Forum, which enables 16-24 year olds to co-create programmes and events at World Museum, Museum of Liverpool and Walker Art Gallery. The funding will support the Under-26 membership scheme and Future Voices, a performance platform for young creative talent.
Laura Pye, director of National Museums Liverpool, said: “We are partnering with The Ken Dodd Charitable Foundation to build a long-term collaboration that honours Sir Ken Dodd’s legacy.”
Anne, Lady Dodd, said: “Our significant donation will be used to benefit a vast range of programmes I know Ken would be immensely proud to be supporting. The fact this three-year arrangement coincides with Ken’s centenary year in 2027 is particularly poignant. It is a very fitting tribute to a beloved entertainer who absolutely adored this great city, the Merseyside people and their fantastic sense of humour.”
