Successful applicants for the annual round of funding for Museums Galleries Scotland main grant scheme have been revealed. In total almost £220,000 is being invested into the sector helping to fund eleven new projects with grants of up to £30,000.

Helmsdale Heritage Society can now progress plans to develop a multimedia heritage trail to mark 200 years since the infamous Clearances took place in the Strath of Kildonan in 2013. Timespan, run by Helmsdale Heritage Society, is working very closely with the local community to develop new resources, including a smart phone ‘app’, to create a ‘museum without walls’ that tells the stories of the people who once lived in the area. This project will be of interest to locals and the thousands of people across the globe seeking information about their ancestors.

Nicola Henderson, Director of Timespan, said:

“We are delighted to receive this funding from Museums Galleries Scotland as this means we can now open up the story of the Strath of Kildonan to a whole new audience. For us, this project is a unique opportunity to engage our local community with the research on the Kildonan Clearances – linking the stories of the past with our lives today.”

Another award going to the University of Glasgow will contribute to the development of a new permanent gallery in the Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery.

The gallery will showcase items from their Recognised Collection of Roman archaeology and Scottish Iron Age objects including items from the Antonine Wall. The project legacy will be a national learning resource for the study of the Roman frontier in Scotland.

Following recent significant structural repairs to the Denny Tank building in Dumbarton, the Scottish Maritime Museum Trust will enhance their visitor experience through new displays and opening up more of the building. The Denny Tank is the last surviving part of the shipyard of William Denny and Brothers which operated from 1844 to 1963. The Trust will also use their award to show visitors how the Clyde played a major role in Scotland’s maritime history at their Linthouse building in Irvine.

Joanne Orr, CEO of Museums Galleries Scotland, said:

“Scotland’s museums and galleries play a vital role in supporting tourism, the economy and local communities. Right on our doorsteps we have an incredibly valuable resource, educating people from home and further afield about our past, present and future.”

“Museums Galleries Scotland funding is an essential investment that enhances the sector – particularly now in the current climate of cuts to public spending. We are pleased to be able to fund these inspiring projects – projects which, to me, exemplify the far reaching aspirations of the people working in our museums and galleries throughout the country.”

Museums Galleries Scotland, at the request of the Scottish Government, is currently developing, in collaboration with the sector, a national strategy for Scotland’s museums and galleries.

Museums Galleries Scotland represent over 340 museums and galleries across Scotland, which welcomes 25 million visitors and provides £800 million in value to the Scottish economy.

 For more information on Museums Galleries Scotland visit www.museumsgalleriesscotland.com 

Projects awarded funding support from Museums Galleries Scotland:

Aberdeenshire Council

Project title: Mr Arbuthnot’s Exploration Gallery Amount awarded: £17,000 The Council will create an exciting, innovative centre of learning looking at natural history and ethnographic objects. Mr Arbuthnot’s Exploration Gallery will enable pre-school, school children and families to “learn by doing” widening their horizons through such things as, hands on history object sessions, storytelling, puzzles and art in the gallery opportunities designed to promote each user to embark on their own voyage of discovering the five continents of the globe. Artefacts may be handled and explored to help inspire, stimulate and intrigue visitors.

Argyll & Bute Council

Project title: Campbeltown Museum Refurbishments Amount awarded: £20,000 Argyll & Bute Council has been awarded cash to undertake refurbishments at Campbeltown Museum. The Council will use the cash from Museums Galleries Scotland to upgrade existing facilities at the museum to allow them to foster better engagement with their local community and also so that they can better preserve the heritage of the area. Through building improvements to lighting and heating the Council want to create an atmosphere that is welcoming and engaging for audiences. They will also implement improvements that will help sustain their collections for future generations.

Caithness Horizons

Project: Development of a new permanent exhibition relating to the Dounreay Nuclear Establishment Amount awarded: £11,881 The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority established a presence in Caithness in the early 1950’s, as operator of the Dounreay nuclear establishment. As a result Caithness Horizons has cared for a growing Collection of objects relating to Dounreay, which they have been unable to display. Using funds from Museums Galleries Scotland Caithness Horizons will develop a new permanent exhibition to allow public access to the Dounreay Collection.

Fife Council

Project: Collections Documentation Assistant Amount awarded: £10,293 Fife Council, whose museums include Kirkcaldy Museum and Art Gallery and Bruntisland Museum, has been awarded funding to appoint two Collections Documentation Assistants to augment access to their museum collections. The Assistants will transfer collections records from paper to digital. The work is important ahead of the Council’s adoption of a new Collections Management System in 2011 and also the development of a new Heritage Resource Unit in Fife in 2012.

Helmsdale Heritage Society

Project title: Museum Without Walls

Amount awarded: £22,407

2013 will mark 200 years since the ‘Clearances’ in Strath of Kildonan when the majority of the native population was moved by the landowner from the inland glens to the coast to make way for sheep which could yield higher incomes for the landowner.

Helmsdale Heritage Society via their Timespan museum have been keen to develop resources to allow visitors returning to the area from which their ancestors hailed find out more about the lives of the people who lived there before the clearances. Funding from Museums Galleries Scotland will allow them to work with their local community to develop innovative online and printed resources in time to mark the anniversary of a period which had such a profound impact on the area.

Timespan Museum will use the funding to create a multimedia heritage trail designed to be accessible for diverse range of audiences and age groups. This ‘clearance trail’ is essentially bringing the museum outdoors through a smart phone app and more traditional interpretation such as outdoor signage and printed trails. Work to develop the project will allow the museum to strengthen their links with communities around the globe that contain ancestors of the people who left Kildonan 200 years ago – particularly at the Red River Settlement in Winnipeg, Canada.

The project will attract international audiences, support and inspire local learning initiatives and open the door to creating a ‘museum without walls’.

Scottish Borders Council

Project title: Textile Resources for new Audiences Amount awarded: £11,002 Based at Borders Textile Towerhouse in Hawick this funding award will allow the employment of an education and outreach officer to work with educators and the local Borders textiles industry to develop a range of new textile themed learning experiences. Although the focus of the post will be to develop resources aimed at 13-25 year olds, the project will also look at audience development in a wider sense, exploring opportunities to develop resources for all ages to enjoy.

Scottish Maritime Museum Trust

The Scottish Maritime Museum has been awarded funding for two projects.

Project title: Re-display of Denny Tank exhibition rooms Amount awarded: £30,000 The Denny Tank is the last surviving part of the important shipyard of William Denny and Brothers. The yard operated from 1844 to 1963 building every type of vessel from sailing ships to modern liners. Dumbarton was the home of many other shipyards apart from Denny’s, which have now since gone making the Denny Tank all the more important.

Following recent significant structural repairs to the Denny Tank building, the Scottish maritime Museum will develop the interpretation for visitors. They will enhance the visitor experience though updating displays and opening up new areas of the building.

Project title: Linthouse Irvine re-display Amount awarded: £28,778 The Scottish Maritime Museum will use Museums Galleries Scotland funds to tell the story of the Clyde and its importance in Scotland’s maritime history. This will be done through utilising existing displays and creating new interpretation at its Linthouse building in Irvine. This major strategic change will see the Linthouse building move from an Open store type museum to a modern visitor attraction.

South Lanarkshire Council

Project title: Cameronian (Scottish Rifles) Display Amount awarded: £30,000 South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture, will re-display and re-interpret a permanent display relating to the regiment situated in Low Parks Museum.

The redeveloped exhibit will deliver a long lasting legacy for the public and for the men and families of those who served in the Regiment. Building on the work by the museums department to date the Council plans to widen access to their collections and the materials held in our trust.

University of Edinburgh

Project title: EUCHMI Audience Development Project Amount awarded: £9,072 The University of Edinburgh are currently undertaking an education project relating to their collection of historical musical instruments. Funding from Museums Galleries Scotland will allow them to maximise the impact of the education project by funding additional work into audience development. This project comes in preparation for a major redevelopment of St Cecilia’s Hall Museum of Instruments.

Funding will allow for the appointment of an Audience Development Assistant.

The University plans to attract audiences through an expansion of their public engagement and lifelong learning programmes. They will also attract new audiences via social networking and the funding will allow them to explore ways attract more volunteers to help them deliver learning and access to visitors.

University of Glasgow

Project title: The Roman Frontier Gallery Project Amount awarded: £28,811 Funding will contribute to the development of a new permanent gallery in the entrance hall of The Hunterian, allowing the University of Glasgow to showcase their Recognised Collection of Roman Archaeology and Scottish Iron Age. Not only will the display inform and inspire new interest in this unique world class collection, it will also explore through key objects, the cultural interaction between the Roman Empire and native Iron Age populations of northern Britain.

The gallery will form a permanent national learning resource for the study of the Roman frontier in Scotland.

Source: Museums Galleries Scotland