Regions Museums Awarded Major Funding And National Portfolio Organisation Status

The Humber Museums Partnership, led by Hull Museums, with partners North Lincolnshire and the East Riding, is delighted to announce it will become an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation and receive over £3.9m in funding. The partnership is currently one of only 21 Arts Council Major Partner Museums in England.

Arts Council England has announced the next wave of funding to support arts, culture and libraries sector across the country and has awarded the Humber Museums Partnership £3.9m over the next four years between 2018 – 2022.

Led by Hull Museums, the successful bid will enable the attractions to continue to deliver a strong cultural programme beyond the 2017 UK City of Culture celebrations by developing new approaches to digital innovation, collection interpretation and audience engagement, creating a strong and lasting legacy across the Humber region.

Councillor Terry Geraghty, Portfolio Holder for Culture and Leisure and Chair of Hull Culture and Leisure Limited, said: “This new status and funding is a continued vote of confidence from the Arts Council England and we very much welcome this investment in our museums in Hull and with partners across the Humber region.

“This funding offers us some great opportunities and enabling us to enhance the visitor experience further by connecting our diverse audiences with our exceptional museum and gallery collections in an engaging way, with phenomenal visitor numbers we will continue on the success of the UK City of Culture celebrations so far.”

Simon Green, Director of Cultural Services at Hull Culture and Leisure, said: “This partnership was formed with a desire to engage more closely with our audiences across the region and find new ways to enhance the cultural offer of the area, we are delighted that Arts Council England have show their confidence in our work going forward.

“I would also like to congratulate Hull Truck Theatre, Artlink, Freedom Festival, and J-Night who have all retained their National Portfolio Organisation status, it is a testament to the city’s success. These partner organisations will continue to work together, committed to ensuring the legacy of Hull UK City of Culture 2017. Hull Truck Theatre Supported Artists Middle Child have also been added to the National Portfolio, a step which recognises the wealth of new, small and diverse cultural organisations in the city.”