Birmingham Museums Trust secures emergency arts funding

Birmingham Museums Trust has been awarded £1.87m as part of the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund to help it face the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic.

Birmingham Museums is one of the largest independent museums trusts in the country and cares for the city’s collection of around one million objects and provides a range of educational and cultural experiences, events and activities to visitors at nine venues across the city.

Having reopened Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery (BMAG) earlier this month, the Trust said it can now focus on its plans for adapting and reopening Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum, early next year.

Niels de Vos, chair of Birmingham Museums Trust, said: “This funding is excellent news.  We are thrilled to have been awarded £1.87m at this crucial time and we would like to thank DCMS and Arts Council England for supporting our organisation, and others across the region, so we can navigate the months ahead and ensure Birmingham Museums can thrive beyond this pandemic.

“The funds will help to ensure the future of our charity by enabling us to invest in income generating opportunities up until Spring 2021, which will help to make us more resilient to the future challenges we face beyond.

“A large proportion of these funds will contribute significantly to our plans for Thinktank, enabling us to reopen the city’s science museum early next year, ensuring we can provide a safe and enjoyable way for visitors to access our science and industry collection, along with providing families with inspiring and educational days out there once more.

“We look forward to planning for the future and with this lifeline we can take the next steps to recovering from this difficult period.”