Culture boost of £12.8m for West Midlands

The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent, will be extended with £5m from the fund to showcase more of its collections

Museums, libraries and arts schemes across the West Midlands are being given more than £12.8m to fund a range of projects.

The largest piece of the money from the government, £5m, will be used to extend the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery in Stoke-on-Trent.

"We are absolutely thrilled," councillor Lorraine Beardmore said.

In Walsall, the Grade II listed Guildhall will be revamped with £3.7m of the total, the borough council said.

The vacant building will become a Creative Industries Enterprise Centre to run and grow creative businesses and projects, councillor Adrian Andrew said.

"This project will champion Walsall’s unique offer and secure the area as a great place to live, work, visit and invest," he added.

The Guildhall in Walsall will be revamped with £3.7m and turned into a centre to run and grow creatives firms and projects

The Stoke-on-Trent project will include a wrap-around ground floor extension to the Potteries Museum with more room to display the city's collections.

The government's fund was launched in 2019 with three separate focuses - the Cultural Development Fund, the Libraries Improvement Fund (LIF) and the Museum Estate and Development Fund (MEDF).

In the latest round, a total of £58.8m has been shared among more than 70 groups across England.

After the grants for Stoke-on-Trent and Walsall, the next largest amount of £2.28m has been awarded to the Leamington Spa Art Gallery and Museum.

More than £1m from the LIF will be shared between libraries in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, Shropshire and Walsall.

Two more awards from the MEDF will see Compton Verney near Kineton, Warwickshire, receive £240,000 and £658,260 go to Wightwick Manor, near Wolverhampton.

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