Funding awarded to support vital repairs and sustainable futures for Scotland’s museums
Museums Galleries Scotland has awarded £543,299 to nine museum organisations through its Repair and Adaptation Fund.
The fund was introduced last year to address the need for capital funding in the sector and was made possible by a welcome increase in capital investment from the Scottish Government.
The funding will support essential repairs and conservation work, while also helping museums reduce their environmental impact and improve accessibility.
Lucy Casot, CEO of Museums Galleries Scotland said:
“Capital investment is critical to the long-term resilience of Scotland’s museums, particularly as many organisations face ageing buildings, rising costs, and the urgent need to adapt for a changing climate.
“We are pleased to support these projects which will enable organisations to address essential repair needs, while also making meaningful improvements to sustainability and accessibility.”
The Museum of Scottish Lighthouses has been awarded £100,000 to improve energy efficiency and visitor access in its new Fresnel lens gallery. The funding will allow the gallery to install floor insulation, a heat pump to replace outdated boilers, and a ramp to improve physical access to the gallery. Leisure and Culture Dundee has received £99,058 to upgrade lighting in The McManus’ display cases with energy-efficient LED lights, improving collections care while reducing emissions.
Dumfries and Galloway Council will use its award to repair the lift in the nearly 400-year-old Tolbooth in Kirkcudbright, ensuring visitors with limited mobility can access all three floors of the building.
The Scottish Maritime Museum and Callendar House will address urgent repair needs to protect their collections and ensure a safe environment for staff and visitors.
Matthew Bellhouse Moran, Executive Director at The Scottish Maritime Museum said:
“We are very grateful to Museums Galleries Scotland for our award from the Repair and Adaptation Fund. The award will allow us to address urgent replacement and repairs to the monumental doors of our museum building, the Category A listed Linthouse. Support of this kind is increasingly vital in enabling museums to keep historic sites in good repair, and we are pleased to see the continuation of the Museum Futures programme, which recognises the importance of sustained investment in the sector. As Scotland’s national maritime museum and the home of a Recognised Collection of National Significance, this funding will help us protect both the building and the collections it houses for the long term.”
The nine organisations awarded a Repair and Adaptation grant are:
Leisure and Culture Dundee (The McManus), Falkirk Council (Callendar House), Thirlestane Castle Trust, Dumfries and Galloway Council (Kirkcudbright Tollbooth), Museum of Scottish Lighthouses, Wanlockhead Museum Trust, Scottish Maritime Museum Trust, Biggar Museum Trust, and Kilmartin Museum Company Ltd.
