Museum Receives Another Government Grant to Secure its Future
The River & Rowing Museum, facing enormous challenges in this post-COVID era and in need of vital investment to secure its future, has been awarded a grant of £151,134 from the Government’s latest Culture Recovery Fund. This award will help the River & Rowing Museum to avoid closure and to realise its ambitions as an
important creative hub of the community.
More than £100 million has been awarded to hundreds of cultural organisations across the country including the River & Rowing Museum in the latest round of support from the Culture Recovery Fund, the Culture Secretary announced today. The Museum was rewarded an original grant from the fund of £152K in April this year.
Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries said: “Culture is for everyone and should therefore be accessible to everyone, no matter who they are and where they’re from. Through unprecedented government financial support, the Culture Recovery Fund is supporting arts and cultural organisations so they can continue to bring culture to communities the length and breadth of the country, supporting jobs, boosting local economies and inspiring people.”
Over £1.2 billion has already been awarded from the unprecedented Culture Recovery Fund, supporting around 5000 individual organisations and sites across the country ranging from local museums to West End theatres, grassroots music venues to festivals, and organisations in the cultural and heritage supply-chains.
River & Rowing Museum Director Cathy Pütz said: “We’re absolutely delighted to receive this vital grant for the River & Rowing Museum. This will enable us to protect the Museum’s future – growing our invaluable supporter network through an essential CRM system and through investment in the training of our wonderful volunteers. We look forward to working closely with our communities – opening our collections wide, sharing more objects and their stories, and together facilitating a community space for wellbeing, creativity, and celebration of the river and the natural world.”
The Museum’s current exhibition, Skyscape: The limitless art of the sky (on display until 16 January 2022) celebrates 500 years of artists’ fascination with aerial landscapes, exploring the sky as an important mental escape for both artist and viewer. The Museum also has exciting plans to display a significant medieval pendant, part of a major local treasure discovery, in a new exhibition in spring 2022. The Museum reopened to the public on 21 May 2021 and is open Thursday to Monday, 10am to 4pm.
Darren Henley, Chief Executive, Arts Council England, said: “This continued investment from the Government on an unprecedented scale means our theatres, galleries, music venues, museums and arts centres can carry on playing their part in bringing visitors back to our high streets, helping to drive economic growth, boosting community pride and promoting good health. It’s a massive vote of confidence in the role our cultural organisations play in helping us all to lead happier lives.”
