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Nicole Goodwin

Segedunum Roman Fort to benefit from share of nearly £10million North East cultural funding

Segedunum Roman Fort is to benefit from a share of almost £10 million cultural funding for the region.

It is one five North East organisations to receive money through the government's Cultural Investment Fund to transform public venues.

And it forms part of a national £48 million fund to support museums, galleries, libraries and other cultural organisations and venues across the country.

Go here for the latest breaking news from North Tyneside

Additional North East organisations to receive funding include Berwick Barracks and Middlesbrough Council.

The aim of the funding is to improve people's access to the arts, safeguard cultural assets for future generations, and power economic growth through culture.

Arts Minister Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay said: "I want to ensure that everyone, no matter where they live, has access to fantastic culture on their doorstep.

"As today's grants demonstrate, the North East has centuries of rich history – stretching back to the Roman period and long before.

"With the 1900th anniversary of Hadrian's Wall and the return of the Lindisfarne Gospels, this is a bumper year for North East heritage and culture.

"The £10 million of cultural funding we are announcing today will help to make sure that it can be enjoyed by even more people, and safeguard it for generations to come."

Last month 10 places in the North East including Hartlepool, Darlington and North Tyneside were designated as Levelling Up For Culture Places which will be prioritised for funding from Arts Council England.

And the North East has previously benefited from nearly £50 million in cultural funding through the Culture Recovery Fund, which was designed to help arts organisations through the pandemic.

This round of North East funding has been broken down into three streams: the Cultural Development Fund, the Museum Estate and Development Fund and the Libraries Improvement Fund.

The Cultural Development Fund aims to give people access to arts and culture in areas with historically low levels of cultural engagement and to boost economic growth.

While the Museum Estate and Development Fund (MEND) helps fund museum and local authority infrastructure projects and urgent maintenance works beyond their day-to-day budgets.

Finally, the Libraries Improvement Fund helps to transform library services in England by helping them upgrade their buildings and digital infrastructure so they can respond to the changing ways people use them.

North Tyneside Council has been given a grant of £499,000 for urgent repairs to Segedunum Roman Fort via the Museum Estate and Development Fund.

The money will pay for roof repairs, the replacement of the fort's air handling system, a new lift and an upgrade to the emergency lighting system.

North Tyneside's mayor Norma Redfearn said: "This funding for essential repairs at Segedunum will hopefully set us on the road for the wider development of the World Heritage Site, which we are proud to have in Wallsend.

"MEND funding will ensure that Segedunum becomes even more welcoming for visitors and, as we develop our work through the Hadrian's Wall Partnership.

"We hope to see more investment coming into the site to make this a truly exciting offer for visitors from across the region and beyond."

Middlesbrough will benefit from funding via the Cultural Development Fund and the Libraries Improvement Fund.

Middlesbrough Council Cultural Services has been given £4.25 million from the Cultural Development Fund to deliver projects including a print workshop, a covered urban garden between its library and Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, a glass and ceramics hub at the gallery and artist workspace.

Middlesbrough Council has also been awarded £240,800 from the Libraries Improvement Fund to upgrade their digital offer and ensure communities across Middlesbrough will have the opportunity to have access to digital services and technology.

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