MORE than £75,000 was secured by Barnsley Museums and Heritage Trust in funding and donations this year.
It enabled the trust, which fundraises for Barnsley’s museums, to deliver things such as poetry workshops for people with life threatening illnesses, and workshops for schoolchildren to learn more about ancient Egypt.
More than £30,000 was secured through the Foyle Foundation to provide access to museum services for primary school pupils in deprived areas of Barnsley.
Donations from the public and corporate supporters amounted to £20,000. This provided the workshops for schoolchildren on ancient Egypt, as well as a new home for Light Lines - a memorial in the town to remember the soldiers who fell at the Battle of the Somme - which is now installed in the Churchfield peace gardens at the edge of the town centre.
A new mobile bread oven at Worsbrough Mill and Country Park was bought with £10,000 from the National Lottery’s Awards for All scheme, and a cheque from the Co-op Local Community Fund provided a family trail and digital resources for families visiting the mill.
Funding from the Better Barnsley Bond will give 300 young people opportunities and skills in creative and digital learning, specifically targeting young people from deprived communities.
Other programmes which received funding this year include painting and framing conservation for a new Dutch paintings exhibition, and a public vote for conservation of the Medieval Charter on display at Experience Barnsley Museum.
Margot Walker, chairman of trustees for Barnsley Museums and Heritage Trust, said: “This has been an outstanding year for the trust and we are thrilled to have secured so many exciting projects and schemes which will benefit people of all ages and backgrounds across Barnsley and Yorkshire.
“We’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who has donated when visiting one of Barnsley’s museums and to our corporate supporters. Donations, however big or small, really do make a difference and help us safeguard our museums so that future generations can continue to be inspired.”
