Thanks to Arts Council England's Government-funded Capital Investment Programme, we're delighted to receive £100k to build new visitor facilities at the Museum.
We're proud to welcome thousands of people from across the globe each year, either as a regular trip to their favourite museum, or as a once in a lifetime pilgrimage to the place where the Brontës lived and wrote their famous novels.
The current lack of visitor facilities is a barrier to access for all audiences and visitors, whether they're local residents, school groups, elderly people, disabled people, or people visiting with babies or young children. The funding, together with that already secured from the Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture Cultural Capital fund, will enable the Brontë Society to provide fully accessible visitor toilets and a Changing Places facility, which will be the first one in the immediate area.
The Capital Investment Programme supports the Arts Council’s mission to ensure communities across the country have the infrastructure where creativity for everyone can thrive.
Rebecca Yorke, Director of the Brontë Parsonage Museum said, “We're thrilled by Art Council England’s decision to award us this funding and very appreciative of their support. Visitor facilities are an essential part of a day or evening out and this development will have a significant, positive impact on the thousands of people who visit our museum each year. We're looking forward to construction commencing this summer and having the new facilities in place in readiness for Bradford’s important year as UK City of Culture in 2025.”
Darren Henley, Chief Executive, Arts Council England said, “This infrastructure investment will help a whole range of different cultural organisations across England to flourish, increasing opportunities for people to enjoy creatively excellent cultural events close to where they live. It’s particularly important that we’re making this happen in communities where cultural investment has historically been low”.
Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay, Minister for Arts, Heritage and Libraries, said, “Cultural venues enrich our lives, and it’s vital that their infrastructure matches the excellence of the creative work that goes on inside them.
"Our funding is helping both to create new venues and to adapt existing ones to make them more accessible, helping to deliver the Government’s plan to make sure that everyone, no matter where they live or what their background, has access to excellent, life-changing cultural opportunities.”
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