Members benefit from Cultural Investment Fund

Over 70 cultural organisations across England will share a £60m investment to improve access to arts and support local economic growth

More than 70 cultural organisations are to be given a financial boost by the government to improve access to arts, support local economic growth and safeguard vital local collections for future generations.

The fund, which totals more than £200 million and was launched in 2019, is made up of three separate streams, the Cultural Development Fund, the Libraries Improvement Fund and the Museum Estate and Development Fund. It is designed to protect and improve people’s access to culture, regenerate communities, upgrade buildings and digital infrastructure and use investment to promote economic growth.

Arts Council England will deliver this fund on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

AIM Director Lisa Ollerhead said:

“This a very welcome boost for museums in England and it’s wonderful to see so many AIM members benefitting from much needed support from the MEND Fund.

AIM will continue its work with ACE partners and governments across the four nations, highlighting the ongoing importance of sustained investment in the infrastructure that preserves our histories.”

Museum Estate and Development Fund

The £86.6 million Museum Estate and Development Fund (MEND) helps fund urgent museum maintenance and infrastructure works. Arts Council England accredited museums in England that are not directly funded by DCMS can apply.

In the latest announcements AIM members attracted almost £10.5m and included:

• £518,000 to Papplewick Pumping Station in Gelding
• £1,409,600 to The Food Museum in Stowmarket, Suffolk
• £669,873 to Nene Valley Railway in Cambridgeshire
• £1,071,616 to The Long Shop Museum in Leiston, East Suffolk
• £974,673 to The Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle, County Durham
• £150,410 to Woodhorn Museum in Ashington, Northumberland
• £143,841 to The Fusilier Museum in Bury
• £104,865 to Salford Museum and Art Gallery in Salford
• £433,766 to Amberley Museum in Amberley, West Sussex
• £69,000 to Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft in Ditchling, East Sussex
• £734,335 to Museum of Farnham in Farnham, Surrey
• £175,000 to Whitstable Community Museum and Gallery in Whitstable
• £495,000 to Coldharbour Mill Museum in Uffculme, Mid Devon
• £185,608 to The Museum of Cornish Life in Helston, Cornwall
• £728,985 to SS Great Britain in Bristol
• £367,027 to Tewkesbury Museum in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire
• £1,494,284 to Royal Cornwall Museum in Truro, Cornwall
• £240,000 to Compton Verney near Kineton, Warwickshire
• £497,474 to Harewood House, near Leeds

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