Six museum projects awarded £315,000

A collaboration that will examine the connection between football and mining in Scotland is among six museum projects to receive a total of £315,767 from the Museum Development Fund.

The fund, which is managed by Museums Galleries Scotland and supported by the Scottish Government, aims to support organisations to better connect audiences, increase their resilience and explore untold stories and local identities.

The successful projects

The Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Glasgow has been awarded £45,000 to develop a multi-stranded project over the next two years focused on maximising public knowledge of and engagement with their two world-class double elephant folio size volumes of John James Audubon’s (1785-1851) The Birds of America.

Claire McDade, the heritage lead at the college, said the project will include conservation work as well as making the volumes more widely available with members of the college and local communities.

“We will also use the project to examine man-made climate change and our impact on habitat and biodiversity decline,” she added. “We look forward to engaging with local people to explore the natural environment.”

Scottish Football Museum and National Mining Museum Scotland have been awarded £51,914 for a partnership to explore the strong links between football and mining in Scotland.

“Our project will explore the interesting connections between two Recognised collections and create two exhibitions, learning resources, a film and a series of events,” said Demi Boyd, exhibitions and collections keeper at the Scottish Football Museum.

Gairloch Museum in the Highlands receives £57,942 to produce a two-year cultural programme called Pushing the Boundaries, celebrating the local identity of the region using heritage, art, Gaelic and the outdoors.

Corinna Annetts, the curator at the museum, said the funding would enable it to enhance its engagement with the local community and visitors throughout the wider area: “Pushing the Boundaries will expand our range of Gaelic and cultural events, develop new activities to increase our tourist footfall, and prepare us for celebrating the 50th anniversary of Gairloch Museum in 2027.”

Ullapool Museum, also in the Highlands, has been awarded £59,998 for a collection stores refurbishment. “This project will enable us to reconnect with our collection, and allow our collection to reconnect with its roots in the local community," said Siobhàn Beatson, Ullapool Museum’s manager.

West Highland Museum will use its award of £43,513 to take its local history collection out into the local area. The museum, which is reliant on volunteers to stay open, will use the money to employ a team to visit local communities and schools. Carrie Gooch, the director of West Highland Museum, said the funding would enable it to further strengthen community ties and interest more people in caring for its collections for future generations.

Outer Hebrides Heritage Forum (Comann Dualchas Innse Gall) has been awarded £57,400 to highlight and improve awareness of the heritage venues of the Outer Hebrides. They will also be working to build audiences and skills in the volunteer workforce.