Tayside Museums Learning and Access Partnership Gets the Green Light

A project developed by Tayside Museums will be one of the first projects to receive funding from the Regional Development Challenge Fund (RDCF), it was announced today (Wednesday 6th October).

The Scottish Museum 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 RDCF was launched last year and aims to encourage the development of partnerships at regional level across local authorities and between museums of all types and other related agencies.

Dundee City Council, Perth and Kinross Council and Angus Council will join forces to create a Learning and Access Partnership which will build on work already underway and  enable the museums to develop further lifelong learning initiatives across all three local authorities.

Creative projects proposed by Glasgow Museums, the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, East Lothian Council and Scottish Borders Council have all 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.�

John Stewart-Young, Dundee City Council, said:  '�We are delighted to have this funding which will enable the development of learning and access across Tayside and importantly bring our museums together to discuss and share best practice.�

The project aims to deliver benefits for visitors, potential visitors, staff and volunteers through a range of initiatives which will include: the recruitment of a Museum Learning and Access Officer at a senior level; a new Forum Group, comprising all Registered Museums in the Region, to ensure the broadest possible investment from the funding; the development of pilot projects in the areas of Learning and Access by working with the National Museums of Scotland and the National Galleries of Scotland.

The project will also build the capacity of museums in Tayside to build effective and sustainable learning and access policies and lever in additional resources to the museum services.

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.�
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 authority, 7 regimental and 27 university museums.
• 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
• Museum Skill Exchange and Training Network
  The project led by Scottish Borders Council Museums and Galleries Service will deliver a regional skills and training network and will investigate the establishment of a long-term partnership beyond the lifetime of the project. This will include 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 and learning on the DDA.
• 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.