Shropshire museums benefit from grant awards

Four museums in Shropshire have received funding from the Marches Network to help them with improvements and various projects.

The grants from the Marches Network were awarded as this year’s West Midlands Museum Development Small Grants Fund. This annual award makes use of funding from Arts Council England.

The House on Crutches Museum in Bishop’s Castle is one of the museums the funds have been awarded to and will be used to help make various – and much needed – energy efficiency measures.

Steve Charmley, Shropshire Council Cabinet member responsible for tourism, said:

“I’m thrilled that Shropshire Council is part of the Museums Development Programme in the West Midlands. It provides such valuable support to these museums which, let’s not forget, include many which are run by volunteers. Through the scheme we are able to share the expertise of our own museum staff as well as bring in additional funding, knowledge and skills to support the work of these museums.”

Oswestry Town Museum will be using the funds to help promote the upcoming Heritage Open Days on 12-15 September.

Mark Hignett from Oswestry Town Museum said:

“This grant will help to promote Shropshire to visitors not only during the Heritage Open Day event days but hopefully encourage repeat business and visits from local people to heritage sites in their home town. It will also help to promote and celebrate the fantastic work done right across Shropshire by dedicated volunteers working to care for and share our history.”

The awards also see the arrival of new acting Museum Development Officer for Shropshire, Charles Singleton. Charles has worked in a wide range of roles for a variety of organisations with the museum sector for the past fifteen years and will be working to provide the county’s museums with access to professional advice and support.

Charles said:

“I think that Shropshire is very much a reflection of the nation’s museums but on a county scale. There is everything from the large international sites, the national organisations like English Heritage, right down to the many excellent volunteer led local museums. I am looking forward to getting to know them all and to work alongside them.”

For more information on the work of the Museums Development Programme, or to find out about becoming a museum volunteer, you can visit shropshire.gov.uk/museums.nsf and follow the links. Alternatively, you can email shrewsbury.museum@shropshire.gov.uk