Bristol Museum & Art Gallery and M Shed have been awarded £270,700 from Arts Council England, as part of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport's Culture Recovery Fund.

The grant will help the Museums service - an important part of the city’s cultural economy - support their flagship institutions until March 2021.

As with cultural organisations and institutions across Bristol, the city’s museum service has been struck hard by the impacts of Covid-19, following the closure of key sites and adoption of practices to ensure they are safe for both staff and visitors.

A portion of the grant money will help towards the ongoing running of Bristol Museum & Art Gallery and M Shed, and support vital maintenance to M Shed’s working exhibits that usually depend on teams of dedicated volunteers.

Money will also be put towards devising innovative ways for the service to show interactive exhibitions and installations, while still meeting vital Covid secure health and safety guidelines.

The future of Blaise Museum and ways it can operate to best accommodate and be enjoyed by the local community and key community groups will also be considered.

Cllr Craig Cheney, Deputy Mayor of Bristol said: “We welcome this boost of funding for our Museums services, to help them get back on their feet after the devastating impacts of the pandemic and put foundations in place for what is to come. Long periods of closure, furlough and working to change the way we offer visitors a great experience have all taken a huge toll on how we can operate, and this funding will help us to get back on track.

“This backing from Government is vital for our Museums service, as well as many of our celebrated institutions, and we are pleased to see them getting the recognition they deserve. We have and will continue to put pressure on the government to expand their offer to be more inclusive to all of our cultural institutions that make Bristol the rich and diverse place it is today.”

Earlier this week, Arts Council England announced an investment of £257 million in 1,385 cultural organisations across the country, as part of the Culture Recovery Fund grants programme.

In the first tranche of grant announcements, some of Bristol cultural organisations, including music venues and theatres, were awarded over £6.7 million. In this second tranche, Bristol received £270,700