Julia Rausing Trust gives £16.7mn to UK cathedrals, botanic gardens, museums & galleries
Melanie May | 10 December 2024 | News
The grants will fund repair and refurbishment works to English cathedrals, and botanic gardens across England, Wales and Scotland. Funding for museums and galleries will support strategic programme delivery that will benefit smaller regional museums.
The £16.7mn from the Julia Rausing Trust includes £6.2mn to cathedrals, £6.2mn to botanic gardens and £4.3mn to museums and galleries.
Seven cathedrals are receiving support: in Bristol, Chester, Ely, Exeter, Manchester, Wells, and York.
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Speaking on how the funds would be used at York Minster, the Very Reverend Dominic Barrington, Dean of York said:
“This exceptional donation of £500,000 will have far reaching impact across our work. It will close the fundraising campaign for our new Centre of Excellence for Heritage Skills and Estate Management, ensuring trail blazing technology, intricate hand skills, outreach and training can be accessed by the next generation of heritage crafts professionals.
“It will also enable three beautiful windows in the Minster’s South Transept to be conserved and protected, as well as allowing close analysis of the iconic Rose window for the first time since the 1984 fire which devastated this area of the cathedral. This will be the first major project that will take place in the Centre of Excellence in 2025, with our talented masons and glazier colleagues working closely together to preserve these windows for future generations to enjoy.
“All at York Minster are deeply grateful for this gift, which will benefit so many people, from heritage craftspeople from around the world to the many visitors who come to our historic site each year. Our heartfelt thanks to Hans Rausing for his generous support in memory of Julia Rausing.”
Botanic gardens across the UK received grants towards a range of projects, including repair of historic glasshouses, access and interpretation. As part of this, a £2 million grant has been made to Birmingham Botanical Gardens towards its £19 million restoration project to improve visitor and learning facilities.
In addition to the heritage aspect, more modern facilities are also being supported: the National Botanic Garden of Wales for example has been awarded £1.3mn towards technical upgrades to the mechanical infrastructure and facilities of the garden’s centrepiece, the Great Glasshouse. The grant is the total required to undertake the first phase of a two-phase plan to strengthen the National Botanic Garden of Wales’s position to care for its collections in a sustainable and environmentally responsible way.
Support for smaller museums
Funds will also benefit smaller regional museums across the UK, including the Association for Independent Museums (AIM), which will receive £600,000 for the Museum Fundamentals grant programme – distributing grants of up to £20,000 for collections care; covering documentation, research and minor improvements to buildings and environmental conditions to ensure collections are looked after. The Julia Rausing Trust support will help AIM meet rising demand from small to medium museums and build on its commitment to help museums conserve their collections, expand access and thrive.
Simon Fourmy, Director of Julia Rausing Trust, said:
“From the splendour of a medieval cathedral to the innovation of a Victorian, via a fascinating and inspiring array of museums dotted across the country, the UK boasts exceptional heritage. Supporting heritage for the benefit of all was an important part of Julia Rausing’s giving and so it is fitting to continue her legacy through these new heritage-themed grants.”
The Julia Rausing Trust was established in memory of the late British philanthropist who died earlier this year. The Trust will donate £100mn to charities and organisations in its first year, and then annually.
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.