Local MP, Dame Caroline Dinenage, welcomes the announcement that Gosport Diving Museum is set to receive £100,000 through the Museum Estate and Development Fund from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sports, delivered by Arts Council England.
The Diving Museum, an HDS outreach project, opened in 2011. The award is for an exemplar project using a green energy heat source to solve an environmental issue in a Victorian Gun Battery. It will eliminate the impact of damp on the building and the collection and open other areas of the building not previously accessible to the community. This will also enable the collection to be better showcased.
The fund will see £48 million distributed to 63 organisations across the country, which will improve people’s access to the arts, safeguard cultural assets for future generations and power economic growth through culture.
Commenting Caroline said:
“I am really pleased that Gosport Diving Museum has received this funding, it is a fantastic destination and one that I have visited many times in the past. This will help ensure that the museum is maintained to the best possible condition.”
Arts Minister Lord Parkinson said:
“Culture is the bedrock of society. It brings people together, entertains and informs us, and helps us to understand our common past and shared future.
Today we are announcing a raft of new funding for treasured cultural institutions up and down the country.
This will help them to continue their great work, advance our work to level up access to arts and culture so they can be enjoyed by people no matter where they live, and protect these cherished institutions for future generations to enjoy.”
Kevin Casey, Museum Director said:
“This award will be game changing for the HDS. It is a fantastic opportunity to save an historically important building for Gosport. This is the home of diving having started here almost 200 years ago so Gosport is the logical place to showcase our historically important collection. We are extremely grateful to DCMS to receive this amazing grant as we wouldn’t have been able to carry out this project without it”.
Darren Henley, Chief Executive, Arts Council England, said:
“Our artists, arts organisations, museums and libraries are experts in making villages, towns and cities better places to live, work, visit or play. This investment means they’ll be able to help more people across England to lead happier, more creative lives”.
Funding will be allocated through three streams: £24 million through the Cultural Development Fund, £18.8 million through the Museums Estate and Development Fund, and £5 million through the Libraries Improvement Fund.
The Museum Estate and Development Fund helps fund museum and local authority infrastructure projects and urgent maintenance works beyond their day-to-day budgets.