Museums Sheffield gets £1.2m from arts council after cuts

Museums Sheffield is responsible for many of the city's museums and galleries

Museums Sheffield has been awarded more than £1.2m of funding from Arts Council England nine months after it missed out on a £4.2m grant.

The money will fund the charitable trust, which runs many of the city's museums and galleries, until 2015.

It will be used to organise new exhibitions, improve its archaeology collections, galleries, cafes, shops and conference spaces.

Chief executive Kim Streets said it was an "important step" for the charity.

She said: "We want people to keep coming through our doors, keep visiting us and having a good time in our museums and galleries."

'Significant reduction'

Earlier this year, the charity had to reduce its staff by 38 after losing out on £1.4m of annual Arts Council funding.

Its £800,000 a year funding from the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council also ended.

"We've been through quite a tumultuous year," said Ms Streets.

"The past few months have seen a significant reduction in our operations and while this new funding won't reverse those changes, it is an important part of our plan to deliver an excellent museum and gallery service which is financially sustainable."

The funding comes from Arts Council England's renaissance programme, which is also giving Barnsley Arts and Museums Service £52,500.

Doncaster Museum and Art Gallery is to receive £120,000 to make it more energy efficient, improve its shop and cafe area and display "high quality artworks".