Heritage and Tourism Minister Nigel Huddleston MP joined Lucy to visit Telford’s Ironbridge Gorge Museums and to announce a multi-million funding award.
The Museums will receive a total of some £10 million from the National Heritage Memorial Fund, with £5.5 million allocated for conservation work on historic properties and £4.5 million of endowment funding to add to the museum’s existing £4.5 million.
The Ironbridge Gorge Museums attract thousands of visitors from across the country and play a vital role in Telford’s fast growing leisure and tourism sector, as well as being a valuable educational resource showcasing the industrial heritage of the East Shropshire coalfield and the West Midlands.
Lucy Allan MP has warmly welcomed the funding and the proactive thinking from the Department for Digital, Culture, media and Sport, which will safeguard the Museum for many years.
Lucy Allan MP said:
This is a huge win for Telford. I am delighted. This exceptional award will secure the future of the Ironbridge Gorge Museums. There has long been much needed repair work to do at every one of the Museum sites, in order to the preserve them for future generations.
These are historic monuments and part of our cultural heritage. This is the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution and we have a duty to preserve it. I am so glad that Government has recognised the important and valuable contribution of the Ironbridge Gorge Museums to Telford’s visitor and leisure economy and to the wider West Midlands.
I am very grateful to the Minister and the National Heritage Memorial Fund for working with me and with the Ironbridge Gorge Museums Trust to gain an in-depth understanding of why this funding was so critical to the future of this extraordinary cultural asset.
This latest announcement comes on top of the £1 million award announced last week, from the Government-funded Museum Estate and Development Fund (MEND) for repair and conservation work at Blists Hill Victorian Town visitor attraction.
