Local Museum and Galleries Project gets the Green Light

A project led by Scottish Borders Council Museums and Galleries Service to deliver a regional skills and training network is one of the first of five projects to receive funding from the Regional Development Challenge Fund it was announced today (Wednesday 6th October).

The Scottish Museums Council and the Scottish Executive have awarded five projects grants of up to �100,000 annually for three years in the first round of awards.  The initiative launched last year aims to encourage the development of partnerships at regional level across local authorities and between museums of all types and other related agencies.

Creative projects proposed by Glasgow Museums, Dundee City Council, East Lothian Council and Tayside Museums, and Edinburgh�s Royal College of Surgeons have also been given the go ahead. (See Editor�s Notes).

Patricia Ferguson, the newly appointed Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport commented;
 
"I am delighted that the Regional Development Challenge Fund is proving successful.  The five projects, to date, demonstrate the willingness in the museums sector to create meaningful, sustainable partnerships, which will benefit communities in their areas.  I hope future projects will fulfill the scheme's aim and provide benefits to the museum sector across the whole of Scotland.�
 
The Museum Skill Exchange and Training Network which will run until 2007, will develop a variety of initiatives including an ICT training programme, a Business Skills programme, a programme of learning linked to Registration Phase III with a focus on strategic planning, improving access to specialists, and work on partnership development. An early task will be to establish a working group of stakeholders and museum representatives. This group will monitor progress against agreed targets and milestones and ensure that the training project fulfils its aims and objectives.

Fiona Colton, Senior Curator for Scottish Borders Council's Education and Lifelong Learning Portfolio said:

"The Regional Development Challenge Fund is an excellent idea and Scottish Borders Council Museum and Gallery Service is delighted to receive RDCF grant to lead on training and skills project for museums in the new East of Scotland Partnership.  This will help build capacity in museums and galleries of all sizes, and, also support independent museums to participate in training on an equal playing field with larger institutions."
"Inter-regional working is an important issue for Scottish Borders Council. This will be the Museum Service's first opportunity to engage properly in a formal, long-term partnership with other Local Authorities. It will be a welcome challenge to explore effective ways of working together."

Joanne Orr, Director of the Scottish Museum Council said: 

�The projects demonstrate how museums can contribute fully to Executive priorities, particularly health and education. For example the Digital Resource Development team will deliver a range of exciting products for teachers and schoolchildren in the East of Scotland. The Scotland and Medicine project will build links with health authorities throughout Scotland and use important collections to contribute to current health debates.
  
The projects have brought a wide range of partners together, working across local authority boundaries and all projects are fully committed to working with key partners to engage fully with community planning priorities and processes.�

Other partners for the project are The City of Edinburgh Council Museums and Galleries, Fife Council Museums Service, West Lothian Council Museums Service, East Lothian Council Museums Service, Almond Valley Heritage Trust, Heriot Watt University Archives, Scottish Mining Museum.
ENDS

Notes for Editors

• The Regional Development Challenge Fund replaces the Strategic Change Fund and is administered on the Executive�s behalf by the Scottish Museum Council
• The Scottish Museums Council (SMC) is the main channel for the Scottish Executive support to, and the member organisation for, non national museums and galleries in Scotland. SMC provides strategic leadership and a range of service including grant aid, strategic and operational advice, information and training. SMC has 207 members, which manage 340 museums all over Scotland, including 164 Independent, 142 local authorities, 7 regimental and 27 university museums.

The Other Successful Projects to receive RDCF awards are:

• Scotland and Medicine: Collections and Connections
  Led by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, The Scotland and Medicine project will enable Scottish Museums to deliver initiatives that raise awareness of Scottish medical/health collections.  The initiatives include the production of an Online directory of Scotland�s medical collections and connections; regional information leaflets and a Scotland wide touring exhibition Anatomy Acts that will combine new work from leading contemporary artists with objects from museums throughout Scotland. The first phase of the project coincides with the 500th anniversary in 2005 of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, the oldest medical incorporation of its kind in the world, and the 200th  Anniversary, in 2007, of the Hunterian Museum and Gallery, in Glasgow, established through the bequest of East Kilbride born William Hunter, one of the most prominent anatomists and collectors of the18th century
• West of Scotland Local History and Archaeology Strategy
  Led by Glasgow City Council, the strategy will be the first of its kind in the UK to address local history using a combined approach across agencies and museums to formalise and quantify the existing knowledge and resources.
• Tayside Museums Learning and Access Partnerships
  This project brings together the three Tayside authorities of Dundee City Council, Perth and Kinross Council and Angus Council to develop a Learning and Access Partnership to build on the work already underway in each of the authorities through the Strategic Change Fund
• Regional Digital Resource Development Team
  Led by East Lothian Council Museum Service this project will focus on harnessing digital technology to make museum collections more accessible and understandable.  A key aspect will be to reconfigure existing content held by partners into publicly accessible formats to promote greater public use for educational purposes and enjoyment.

For further information please contact Mrs Fiona Colton, Senior Museums Curator, Scottish Borders Council Museum & Gallery Service, T: 01750 20096