Arts venue and steam museum net £1.7m in grants

The Sainsbury Centre in Norwich is expected to be given about £1.2m in funding

An arts venue and a steam museum in Norfolk have been awarded government grants totalling about £1.7m.

More than £1.2m will be spent on public gallery spaces and a new goods lift to move artworks at The Sainsbury Centre, at the University of East Anglia in Norwich.

Bressingham Steam and Gardens in Diss will get nearly £430,000 for a replacement roof and other work at its locomotive exhibition hall.

Lorna Harper, deputy director of the Sainsbury Centre, said the grant was a "great acknowledgement" of the "globally important work we do".

Bressingham Steam and Gardens is one of the attractions awarded government funding

She said the grant "enables the necessary updates to our infrastructure to maintain the conservation and curatorial care of artworks for many years to come".

Rob Ellis, trustee at Bressingham Steam and Gardens, said: "We are absolutely delighted to have been awarded this funding."

The museum has various steam trains and vehicles as part of its collection, along with railway lines and other attractions.

The grants are part of £270m in funding for 29 arts venues, museums and libraries across the UK.

The government said its Arts Everywhere Fund aimed to "boost local economies" with money awarded from April.