£60m funding announced to protect UK’s national heritage

Museums, galleries and heritage organisations have been awarded £60m to ensure nationally important museum collections and heritage assets are protected for future generations.

The funding, which has been awarded to organisations including the V&A, The Natural History Museum and the British Library has supported 100 projects for essential maintenance works delayed by the pandemic. It will help projects that were stalled due to the Covid-19 pandemic reach completion to allow institutions to welcome back visitors this summer.

It will increase accessibility at national tourist attractions including the Royal Armouries in Leeds and the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford. The funding will also help organisations meet net-zero targets by supporting energy efficiency projects at The Royal Armouries, providing grants for electric boilers at the Imperial War Museum Duxford in Cambridgeshire, and upgrading insulation at Tate Liverpool.

This £60m investment in some of the nation’s beloved institutions builds on the almost £2 billion invested in the arts, heritage and cultural sectors through the Culture Recovery Fund, which has supported more than 5,000 organisations through the pandemic.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said: “We’ve given £60m to safeguard the priceless collections and heritage at many of our beloved cultural institutions so they can be enjoyed by future generations. This builds on our £2bn Culture Recovery Fund, ensuring that we continue to protect our heritage and culture throughout this pandemic and are able to open up our historic institutions for everyone to enjoy this summer.”