Alistair Hardaker
Image: Birmingham Museums Citizens’ Jury (c) Birmingham Museums Trust
Seventy-five museum organisations receive grants to protect opening hours, jobs and community programmes.
Seventy-five civic museums across England will share £20m through the government’s Museum Renewal Fund, DCMS has announced today.
The funding forms part of the £270 million Arts Everywhere Fund announced in February 2025.
The largest recipients include Birmingham Museums Trust, which will receive just under £1m, York Museums Trust at £1 million, and Hampshire Cultural Trust with £1.2m.
DCMS said the funding will support opening hours, protect jobs and maintain community and educational programmes.
Birmingham Museums Trust said it will use its allocation to reduce its financial shortfall and fund activities to generate additional income.
It will deliver exhibitions including its summer family show ‘Giants’ and maintain access to collections during renovation work. The trust holds four Arts Council England Designated Collections, the Staffordshire Hoard, and Pre-Raphaelite paintings.
Sara Waid and Zak Mensah, co-chief executives of Birmingham Museums Trust, said:“We are very grateful for this much needed financial assistance from the Museum Renewal Fund, which will enable us to reduce the trust’s financial shortfall and fund activities to generate additional income.
“But while the funding will make a real difference in the short term, it must be spent by the end of January next year, which underlines how temporary this support is.
“We need this to be just the start: the civic museum sector requires a sustained, long-term financial strategy so that we can plan ahead confidently, care for our collections properly, serve our communities fully and ensure that these institutions of such vital cultural importance are resilient into the future.”
Jon Finch, chair of the English Civic Museums Network, added: “The English Civic Museums Network (ECMN) welcomes Arts Council England’s (ACE) announcement on the distribution of the Museum Renewal Fund, a fund that ECMN’s steering group and members had actively lobbied the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to establish. This vital investment represents an essential lifeline for many museums across the country.
“Museums continue to face a range of unprecedented and long-term challenges that pose serious risks to their sustainability. Recent changes to national insurance contributions, coupled with rising inflation and increases to the minimum wage, are among the pressures intensifying the wider economic uncertainty at local, regional, and national levels.
Barnsley Museums will receive £266,273 to support operations across its five sites, including Experience Barnsley and the Grade II* listed Cannon Hall. The funding will protect the museum’s exhibitions, learning programmes and Museums and Schools scheme.
Discover Bucks Museum’s £314,000 grant will support audience development and community connections through its Community Advisory Group and Bucks Black History Museum Group. The museum will also progress redevelopment options for its children’s gallery.
On 7 October, Baroness Twycross visited The Culture Trust, Luton, which will receive £530,528. The funding will maintain staffing levels and support education and community initiatives.
Sir Nicholas Serota, Chair of Arts Council England, said: “This funding will provide a crucial lifeline for local museums in stabilising their financial situation and building towards a sustainable future.”
The funding spans all nine English regions, with allocations ranging from £11,077 for Wiltshire Museum to £1,177,430 for Hampshire Cultural Trust.
In February, when the fund was announced, Jenny Waldman, director of Art Fund called the £20 million Museum Renewal Fund “a vital lifeline for our civic museums” and an “important first step to ensuring financial resilience, economic growth and ensuring our public collections remain accessible for future generations.”
The full list of recipients
London:
Headstone Manor & Museum – £419,420
Fulham Palace – £571,033
Gunnersbury Park Museum – £147,309
Richmond Arts Service – £117,354
Brent Museum and Archives – £121,851
Haringey Council – £60,400
West Midlands:
Culture Coventry – £384,390
Museum of Royal Worcester CIO – £228,343
Birmingham Museums Trust – £994,742
Shropshire Council – £226,238
Ford Green Hall Museum – £34,369
Tamworth Borough Council – £139,120
Warwickshire County Council – £37,690
Museums Worcestershire – Worcester City Art Gallery and Museum – £239,922
East Midlands:
Derby Museums – £799,700
Derbyshire County Council Museums Service – £72,000
Sharpe’s Pottery Heritage and Arts Trust – £42,019
The Village Church Farm Museum – £14,085
North East:
Sunderland City Council – £102,280
The Bowes Museum – £436,181
Jarrow Hall – £38,669
Middlesbrough Council Cultural Services – £239,551
Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums – £438,300
North West:
People’s History Museum – £652,157
Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery – £598,775
The World of Glass – £286,000
Keswick Museum & Art Gallery Management Ltd – £217,103
Manchester City Galleries – £74,184
Bury Art Museum & Sculpture Centre – £67,600
Lancaster City Museums – £40,500
The Norton Priory Museum Trust – £52,000
Lakeland Arts – £295,713
South East:
Vale and Downland Museum – £53,190
Windsor and Royal Borough Museum – £65,895
Museum of Oxford, Oxford City Council – £227,952
Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust – £533,084
Bucks County Museum – £314, 000
Wycombe Museum – £104,318
Royal Pavilion & Museums Trust – £881,848
The Banbury Museum Trust – £131,957
Bexhill Museum £43,118
Maidstone Museums – £75,000
South West:
Exeter City Council – £114,202
Wiltshire Museum – £11,077
Bristol Museums – £495,320
Weymouth Museum Trust – £43,725
The Box (Plymouth City Council) – £184,215
South West Heritage Trust – £503,131
Bridport Museum Trust – £29,218
Dean Heritage Centre – £58,285
Trowbridge Town Council – £25,000
BCP Council (Poole Museums) – £376,500
Museum of Gloucester – £360,378
Burton Art Gallery and Museum – £161,570
King John’s House and Tudor Cottage Trust Ltd – £106,000
Hampshire Cultural Trust – £1,177,430
East of England:
The Culture Trust, Luton – £530,528
Norfolk Museums Service – £360,000
Chelmsford City Council – £236,297
Ware Museum CIO – £58,337
Southend Museum Service – £39,794
The Cromwell Museum – £240,300
Peterborough City Council – £168,000
Colchester Borough Council – £126,200
The Food Museum Ltd – £351,112
St Albans Museums – £85,000
Yorkshire and the Humber:
Hull Culture and Leisure – £272,095
Sheffield Museums Trust – £708,064
Bradford Museums and Galleries – £125,000
Wakefield Museums & Pontefract Castle – £82,807
York Museums Trust – £1,000,000
Leeds Museums and Galleries – £952,000
Ilkley Manor House Trust – £16,782
Barnsley Museum – £266,273
Doncaster Heritage Services – £116,000
