Shropshire museums group gets funding boost
A Shropshire-based national museum association has been awarded £900,000 thanks to a multi-million pound investment from Arts Council England.
The Association of Independent Museums has been given the funding as part of a £17.5 million investment to support museums, galleries and heritage sites across the country.
AIM, which covers museums around the UK, has one of its many bases in Ludlow and bosses say they hope to see Shropshire museums benefitting from its funding which will go towards support and training.
Tamalie Newbery, executive director of AIM, said: "This funding from Arts Council England will enable us to deliver a series of projects and a new grant scheme, to help independent museums take proactive steps to safeguard their own futures.
"We want to ensure that museums of all shapes and sizes are able to recognise and develop the characteristics that will help them adapt and prosper through changing times."
Ms Newbury added that while the company would support museums around the country with its new funding, she hoped to see museums in Shropshire apply for the planned schemes and benefit from training and support. Other organisations to receive funding include Birmingham Museums Trust, the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery in Staffordshire and the Wolverhampton Art Gallery. In total a £3,014,743 investment has been made in nine museums and heritage sites across the West Midlands.
Peter Knott, area director for Arts Council England, said: "This funding is aimed at supporting museums to make the most of opportunities for development which will help ensure the public can continue to benefit from the wealth of historical collections."
New figures show that more than 50 per cent of adults visited at least one of the country's 2,635 museums or galleries in the last year.
