Oral history project
The expertise of staff at London's Natural History Museum is to be captured in an oral history project, Museum Lives, conducted by Kingston University. The university has identified that over the next five years, 24 museum staff with 775 years of experience will retire. The project is funded by a £260,000 grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
Hastings museum theft
Thieves stole 32 items from a case at Hastings Museum and Art Gallery last month. The police have used CCTV footage to arrest a man, although he has yet to be charged. The items, including a 19th-century bowl from Iraq, are worth about £50,000.
Bank foundation reopens
Northern Rock Foundation has reopened for business. In 2008, £2m has been made available to support culture and heritage projects in the north-east and Cumbria. The foundation scaled back its giving last autumn after the bank ran into trouble. Now under temporary public ownership, the foundation is assured to receive £15m a year to 2010.
Vale museum cash crisis
Vale and Downland Museum in Wantage, Oxfordshire, needs to generate an extra £75,000 a year to stay afloat. The museum receives £53,000 a year in local authority grants, but the museum's administrator, Tony Hadland, said the reconstructed barn, which stages weddings, had suffered from competition from other wedding venues. Hadland said cuts in services and staff would be looked a before closing the museum was considered.
The expertise of staff at London's Natural History Museum is to be captured in an oral history project, Museum Lives, conducted by Kingston University. The university has identified that over the next five years, 24 museum staff with 775 years of experience will retire. The project is funded by a £260,000 grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
Hastings museum theft
Thieves stole 32 items from a case at Hastings Museum and Art Gallery last month. The police have used CCTV footage to arrest a man, although he has yet to be charged. The items, including a 19th-century bowl from Iraq, are worth about £50,000.
Bank foundation reopens
Northern Rock Foundation has reopened for business. In 2008, £2m has been made available to support culture and heritage projects in the north-east and Cumbria. The foundation scaled back its giving last autumn after the bank ran into trouble. Now under temporary public ownership, the foundation is assured to receive £15m a year to 2010.
Vale museum cash crisis
Vale and Downland Museum in Wantage, Oxfordshire, needs to generate an extra £75,000 a year to stay afloat. The museum receives £53,000 a year in local authority grants, but the museum's administrator, Tony Hadland, said the reconstructed barn, which stages weddings, had suffered from competition from other wedding venues. Hadland said cuts in services and staff would be looked a before closing the museum was considered.
