Nidderdale Museum wins £54,800 in lottery

Nidderdale Museum has been awarded funding of £54,800 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund for an exciting heritage project entitled Sustaining Nidderdale’s Heritage.
Nidderdale Museum. Picture : Jonathan GawthorpeNidderdale Museum. Picture : Jonathan Gawthorpe
Nidderdale Museum. Picture : Jonathan Gawthorpe

Made possible by money raised by National Lottery players, the 15-month project, which will start in May or June, will focus on strengthening the organisation, ensuring that it can continue to preserve and display the local heritage into the future.

Sue Welch, chairman of the Nidderdale Museum said: “We’re delighted to receive this funding, which will mean we can safeguard the future of Nidderdale’s Heritage, and give more people the opportunity to learn about it.

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“We’re grateful to all those who, by buying lottery tickets, have made this funding possible.”

The volunteer-run museum, which welcomes over 6000 visitors a year to Pateley Bridge will use the funding to build a solid base for the future by setting up recruitment and training programmes.

The grant will also allow forward planning, including the creation of procedures required for Arts Council accreditation which would help secure future funding.

A part-time Project Officer will be employed to drive the project forward, with the help of volunteers, and there will be an opportunity for a young person to be taken on as a trainee placement, helping with the project and gaining valuable experience for a future career in heritage.

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A spokesman added: “Nidderdale Museum is the only museum dealing with the local history of this area of North Yorkshire and has a fascinating collection of over 32,000 items.

“These include artefacts, costumes, artefacts and old photographs, displayed over 12 rooms in the Old Workhouse in Pateley Bridge.

“Widening the base of volunteers will give more local people the opportunity of delving into local history and learning how to conserve and display collected items.”

The National Lottery grant comes at a vital time for the museum. The Covid crisis has brought into sharp focus the fact that many of the existing volunteers are elderly and highlighted the essential need to expand the volunteer base.

The Museum expects to re-open on Friday May 21.

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