£4m up for grabs for galleries and museums in government 'level up' scheme

Matt Warman, MP for Boston and Skegness, has been highlighting the next round of 'level up' funding to support cultural organisations.

This new funding from the Government and the Wolfson Foundation will make exhibitions more accessible, support the improvement of displays and protect collections.

The Wolfson Foundation and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport are contributing extra funding to mark 20 years of the two organisations supporting arts and cultural organisations.

Over the last 20 years, the Museum and Galleries Improvement Fund has supported 415 projects, with £48 million in 350 museums in the UK.

Museums and galleries benefitting from the Fund’s investments have improved access for communities to their local history.

Funding awarded has helped to increase opening hours and visitor numbers, so that more people can visit their collections and enjoy our national heritage.

Over 80 per cent of the funding provided in the last round of awards went to organisations in the regions, including in Yorkshire, Carlisle, Manchester, and Norwich.

The Conservative Government is delivering on its commitment set out in its Levelling Up White Paper to increase cultural spending outside the capital to widen access and boost cultural opportunities.

“We have a national cultural heritage of which we can be proud, and every community should be able to visit and appreciate the collections on their doorstep," commented Mr Warman.

“The Government’s extra funding, building on the £48 million that has already supported 415 projects, is a welcomed opportunity to widen access to the wonderful and historic collections in our museums and galleries and I urge organisations across Boston and Skegness to apply.

“This Conservative Government is levelling up culture across the nation – opening the doors to our museums and galleries so that wherever people live they can be proud of our shared history.”

Arts Minister Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay said: “This is a brilliant example of what can be achieved when public funding and private philanthropy come together and I encourage organisations to apply so we can support more

museums and galleries to level up people’s access to culture.”