£200k Tramway grant is just the ticket
GOVERNMENT CASH TO HELP MUSEUM AND HERITAGE CENTRE RECOVER
CRICH Tramway Village, home to the National Tramway Museum, is getting a £204,000 Government boost to help it recover and reopen after the pandemic.
It is among more than 2,700 recipients to benefit from the latest round of awards from the £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund.
A spokesman said the award will enable the museum and educational charity to bring staff back from furlough, add to the ticketing system to allow for speedier processing, and purchase items such as benches, bins and signage, plus hire an additional cleaner as the venue seeks to be Covid compliant.
New items such as a marquee with tables and chairs to allow for outside learning and group activities, will allow the museum to again provide a learning experience for schools and special interest groups.
It will continue to make more collections and site map accessible online and begin to start developing a children’s book to appeal to young people and their families.
“It will enable the expansion of cultural reach work with the local community on artistic projects and annual projects such as well dressings,” a museum spokesman said.
More than £800 million in grants and loans has been awarded to support 3,800 cinemas, performance venues, museums, heritage sites and other cultural organisations dealing with the challenges of the pandemic.
A second round of awards this week will help organisations to plan for reopening and recovery. After months of closures and cancellations to contain the virus and save lives, this funding will be a muchneeded boost for many organisations in the months ahead.
Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said: “Our record-breaking Culture Recovery Fund has already helped thousands of organisations survive the biggest crisis they’ve ever faced.
Now we’re staying by their side.”
Dr Mike Galer, the general manager of Crich Tramway Village, said: “Covid has presented huge challenges. We receive no core funding from local or central government and last season we achieved approximately 60% of our normal visitors and therefore income was down.
“Neither the deficit we have, nor the financial constraints we would have to operate under, are sustainable and substantial cuts to our operation would have been made without this grant.
We are hugely grateful to Arts Council England for helping us to recover and reopen.”