Ripon Museum Trust has secured essential funding after a successful grant offer of support from Arts Council England.
The grant will see Ripon Museum Trust continuing as a National Portfolio Organisation and means it will receive £142,576 of funding each year from ACE for the years 2023-26.
The crucial funding will be used to continue to support a number of jobs at the Trust as well as a programme of community engagement, creative programming and improvements planned over the coming years.
Arts Council England have wardedt grants totalling £877,728 to Settle Stories and Ripon Museum Trust.
- Settle Stories is an independent arts charity which hosts live and online workshops, retreats and learning programmes dedicated to the art of storytelling. Julian recently visited Settle Stories on the 7 October, meeting with the founder and CEO Sita Brand, and Tony Durcan the Chair of Trustees, alongside other team members. Julian and the team discussed the Yorkshire Festival of Story, which is a rural storytelling festival in the Yorkshire Dales, hosting over 80 free events between the 4th to 27th November with a focus on climate change.
- Ripon Museum Trust is a collection of three museums – the Workhouse, Prison & Police and Courthouse. The Trust is run by employees and over 100 volunteers, aiming to increase awareness and involvement in local heritage.
Arts Council England have chosen to boost investment in places where there has been historically a lack of public investment in creativity. This includes £130 million over the next three years in 78 Levelling Up for Culture Places.
Julian said:
I am really pleased that the Arts Council England have announced that grants totalling £877,728 have been awarded to Settle Stories and Ripon Museum Trust – two great initiatives in the constituency.
Richard Taylor, Chairman of Ripon Museum Trust, said:
We’re incredibly grateful for the support shown to us by Arts Council England. This crucial grant funding allows us not only to continue to provide a range of inspiring experiences but to also look ahead to how we can find new and innovative ways to inspire and engage our visitors both digitally and in person.
This is good news for Ripon and the wider community of North Yorkshire. It will help to raise the cultural profile of our city and everything it has to offer. The continued endorsement by ACE also demonstrates the importance of museums, arts and culture to the North and its communities.
Helen Thornton, Director of Ripon Museum Trust, said:
It is hugely exciting to be part of Arts Council England’s next Portfolio and to be able to respond to Let’s Create. It’s a vote of confidence that what we are doing here has real impact and potential to grow our cultural offer. We hope to be able to reach out to and work with new communities, strengthen and develop what we do for our local communities, our volunteers and the general visitor – to ensure they have a really creative and inspiring time in our museums.
Applications for funding were made through ACE’s Let’s Create national strategy, where organisations were tasked with demonstrating how the work they do will contribute to the principles of inclusivity and relevance, ambition and quality, dynamism, and environmental responsibility.
The funding offer is now subject to approval by officers and agreement with ACE.
