In November 2022 Arts Council England (ACE) announced that 990 organisations would receive £446 million each year for the period 2023 to 2026 as National Portfolio Organisations. The National Portfolio is a group of nearly a thousand arts and cultural organisations that get regular funding from ACE and forms the core of ACE’s investment of public money to support creativity and culture in England. The organisatons underpinned by this funding include arts centres, galleries, libraries, music venues, and museums.

The new settlement for the period 2023 -26 includes 23 organisations responsible for running industrial sites, with a total of £14.6m in support allocated to this group for each year. Organisations receiving support to help protect industrial heritage sites include nine local authority or local authority-supported museum services with industrial heritage museums and sites, including Derby Museums and the Norfolk Museum Service. There are also several arts venues based within historic industrial building which are receiving funding: Farnham Maltings Association, Kendal Brewery Arts Centre, and The Ropewalk in Cleethorpes.

Amongst the industrial heritage museums and trusts that continue to receive support are Beamish Museum, Black County Living Museum Trust, Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust, Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust (see image above), the London Transport Musuem, and SS Great Britain. The Association of Independent Musuems, which gives support to many smaller industrial museums, also had its funding renewed.

There were several dozen additions to this list from the previous period, including first time support for Kirklees Museums and Galleries, and the North Yorkshire Moors Railway Trust.

For more details follow this link: https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/investment23