Jewish Museum Secures Government’s Culture Recovery Funding

Jewish Museum London to receive £49,833.00 from second round of the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund

· Jewish Museum London to receive £49,833.00 from second round of the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund

· Jewish Museum London among more than 2,700 recipients to benefit from the latest round of awards from the £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund

· This award will support the Museum to reopen its physical doors after a year of extraordinary online work

Jewish Museum London in Camden Town has received a grant of £49,833.00, from the Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund, to help the organisation recover and reopen.

More than £300 million has been awarded to thousands of cultural organisations across the country, including the Jewish Museum London, in the latest round of support from the Culture Recovery Fund, the Culture Secretary announced today.

Under the leadership of Chair Nick Viner and Interim Director Frances Jeens, the Jewish Museum London has been delivering unique benefit to its audiences, communities and participants since the first national lockdown in March 2020. Over the past year, the Museum has reached engagement numbers of over 100,000 through its innovative pivot to digital which included their sector leading Virtual Classrooms for schools programme, weekly livestreamed object talks with global reach, and a public tours programme founded in showcasing objects that usually stay behind the scenes.

The Museum will be using this generous funding to secure their future, both in continuing to build on its digital achievements, and by reopening their physical doors through their phased plan which takes into account the safety requirements of staff, volunteers and audiences – especially given the intergenerational nature of its work. The initial stages of the phased reopening of the Museum will be under the programme “The Museum to Myself”. From June 2021 the Museum will begin to reopen to priority groups, which include:

· Schools

· Researchers – both academic and those doing personal research

· Selected community groups including mental health charities

· Private visits

The Museum expects to then begin opening to the wider public from July 2021, with details on how to book a visit to be released within the next few months.

Over £800 million in grants and loans has already been awarded to support almost 3,800 cinemas, performance venues, museums, heritage sites and other cultural organisations dealing with the immediate challenges of the coronavirus pandemic. The second round of awards made today will help organisations to look ahead to the spring and summer and plan for reopening and recovery. After months of closures and cancellations to contain the virus and save lives, this funding will be a much-needed helping hand for organisations transitioning back to normal in the months ahead.

Culture Secretary, Oliver Dowden, said:

“Our record breaking Culture Recovery Fund has already helped thousands of culture and heritage organisations across the country survive the biggest crisis they’ve ever faced. Now we’re staying by their side as they prepare to welcome the public back through their doors – helping our cultural gems plan for reopening and thrive in the better times ahead.”

Interim Director, Jewish Museum London, Frances Jeens said:

“I’m delighted to share this news that the Jewish Museum London is to be supported by the second round of the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund. The Museum and its dedicated staff and Trustees have been working incredibly hard this past year to adapt our programmes and change our practices so that we can emerge from this year with financial resilience, ambitious programming and with a new community built around us.

This funding supports the incredible digital work the Museum has delivered, having facilitated live Virtual Classrooms to thousands of students, delivered virtual talks to care homes, and worked with new partners both across the Jewish and museum communities to reinterpret our collection. This funding also supports our exciting next step, the reopening of our physical doors and the welcoming back of visitors to our new research room and partnership exhibition. We are so grateful that this funding will enable us to see our visitors again this summer”

Chair, Jewish Museum London, Nick Viner said:
“The Jewish Museum London is honoured to be one of the cultural and creative organisations receiving this extremely generous and much appreciated support. The Museum has delivered an extraordinary programme of virtual events throughout lockdown and will continue to do so. Thanks to this new funding, we can now move to our first stage of reopening: we will welcome priority groups back into the Museum, focusing initially on education, both for young people and academics, and on those working with the community. This funding, benefitting the museum and our wider community, will ensure that access to our unique collection and expert staff can both continue and develop.”

Sir Nicholas Serota, Chair, Arts Council England, said:

“Investing in a thriving cultural sector at the heart of communities is a vital part of helping the whole country to recover from the pandemic. These grants will help to re-open theatres, concert halls, and museums and will give artists and companies the opportunity to begin making new work. We are grateful to the Government for this support and for recognising the paramount importance of culture to our sense of belonging and identity as individuals and as a society.”

The funding awarded today is from a £400 million pot which was held back last year to ensure the Culture Recovery Fund could continue to help organisations in need as the public health picture changed. The funding has been awarded by Arts Council England, as well as Historic England and National Lottery Heritage Fund and the British Film Institute.