Museums get share of £270m 'Arts Everywhere' fund
BBCFive museums in Yorkshire have been awarded funding as part of a £270m investment in arts and culture in the UK.
The Museum of North Craven Life, in Settle, will receive almost £800,000, while the Land of Iron, in Skinningrove, will be given almost £656,000.
Millennium Gallery, in Sheffield, will be awarded £315,000, the Bankfield Museum in Halifax, is to receive £442,000 and the Beck Isle Museum, in Pickering, will receive almost £400,000.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said the money would be used to help venues in urgent need of financial support to remain open, protect jobs and carry out vital repair work.
The announcement marks 60 years since the first arts white paper, issued by Labour arts minister Jennie Lee, that promised a vision of "arts for everyone, everywhere".
Heather Lane, honorary curator of the Museum of North Craven Life, said the money would pay for repairs to the roof.
"We have had to close to the public several times recently because of water coming in," she said.
"The funding will relieve us of this problem, and will go a long way to helping protect the collections we have on the site."
Nick Weffon, marketing manager at Land of Iron - which charts the history of the region's first ironstone mine - said the funding would help to "stabilise, preserve and restore" parts of the the mine not previously open to the public.
Meanwhile, Kirstie Hamilton, director of programmes at Sheffield Museums said the funding would support repairs to the Millennium Gallery's escalators.
"We're hugely grateful for this vital investment into the building's physical infrastructure, enabling us to continue to create and deliver inspiring, accessible experiences for years to come," she said.
Ahead of a speech in Stratford-upon-Avon, Nandy said: "The funding we are announcing today will allow the arts to continue to flourish across Britain, creating good jobs and growth by fixing the foundations in our cultural venues, museums, libraries and heritage institutions."
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