Some of Tyneside's favourite attractions are set to benefit from a £400,000 funding boost which aims to get more volunteers involved in making them a success.
A consortium led by Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums, which runs nine museums and galleries in the area, is celebrating its share of a £4.6m Government 'levelling up' pot that will help support, in total, more than 7,800 community volunteering opportunities across the country over the next two years. Here, the idea is to recruit around 650 volunteers from under-represented groups, who are set to reap rewards too through making a difference in their communities.
The good news of the award comes after a recent appeal for people to return to local attractions after losses of around 50% in visitor numbers due to Covid. In a bid to increase footfall, several of them got together to form a collective: Newcastle Gateshead Cultural Venues.
Read more: Galleries and museums urge people to 'come back to culture'
Besides TWAM, which runs nine museums and galleries, the members of NGCV are Dance City; Life Science Centre; Live Theatre; Northern Stage; Seven Stories; Theatre Royal and Tyneside Cinema plus Baltic and Sage Gateshead. The new award will mean individual venues can set up diverse and inclusive volunteer programmes.
The £400,000 award is from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and delivered by Arts Council England. TWAM director Keith Merrin said the funding will help the venues "to provide opportunities that will enrich the skills, experiences and wellbeing of the volunteers who participate and also bring more diverse perspectives and ideas into our cultural venues".
He added: “Volunteering is essential to museums, galleries and cultural venues. We currently have many valued volunteers that support TWAM with a wide range of tasks from assisting at events to driving and maintaining our steam trains. In turn volunteers get a variety of benefits from the experience, from skills development to increased confidence to meeting new people.
"This project is particularly about reaching new people – those who don’t traditionally engage with museums, galleries or theatres.” With use of digital technology, it's expected that available roles will include virtual roles too.
Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries said: “As we have seen throughout the pandemic, volunteering offers a wealth of benefits to both the volunteers and the organisations who rely on their help, encouraging acts of generosity, public spirit and neighbourliness. The Volunteering Futures Fund will deliver a step-change in connecting those who may be isolated, lonely or experiencing any number of potential barriers to get involved in volunteering. "
Darren Henley, chief executive officer of Arts Council England, added that the investment will enrich areas and help increase health and well-being: “There’s an abundance of evidence to show that volunteering can be a key factor in helping people lead happier lives," he said.
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