Scotland’s biggest cultural heritage project has received a funding boost that will be used to help tackle the poverty-related education gap - and create joy.
The Clore Duffield Foundation has committed £200,000 towards the creation of a dedicated learning space for children and young people in Paisley Museum, which is undergoing a £45 million refurbishment.
Staff from OneRen, the local cultural charity behind the project, have been partnering with teachers and learning providers from across Renfrewshire to co-produce new learning experiences for local young people.
READ MORE: New Paisley Museum refurbishment is coming on at pace
Kirsty Devine, Project Director at Paisley Museum Re-Imagined, said staff were "thrilled" to have the support of Clore Duffield.
Ms Devine added: "This will further enhance our learning programme, inspiring a new generation through creativity and culture at the heart of our new museum space.
"The Clore Learning Room will be a place of joy and education, where we work to reduce the poverty-related attainment gap and challenge levels of child poverty through the huge potential that our cultural programme can offer.
"We’re already creating genuine, long-lasting relationships with learners, teachers and stakeholders, working with them to design a learning programme that will make a significant difference to our young people – and the endorsement from Clore Duffield is hugely appreciated.”
The renovation of Paisley Museum is part of a wider investment in the Renfrewshire town that the local authority claims will "change its future" with internationally-significant cultural and heritage venues.
This is only the second time in its history that the Foundation has chosen to support a Clore Learning Space in Scotland, the other being the National Galleries of Scotland.
Kate Bellamy, Director of the Clore Duffield Foundation, said: “We’re very pleased to support Paisley Museum and OneRen in their work to inspire children and young people through an engaging programme of cultural learning opportunities.
READ MORE: Paisley will be to Glasgow what Brooklyn is to Manhattan
“The Clore Learning Room will be a place of excitement and opportunity, breaking down barriers to education and engagement at the heart of one of the UK’s most exciting new museum projects. "We look forward to seeing the results.”
The Foundation was established by Sir Charles Clore in 1964 and is now chaired by his daughter, Dame Vivien Duffield.
A flagship programme is the creation of Clore Learning Spaces in cultural institutions across the UK to ensure children and young people have the chance to benefit from art, culture and heritage.
The museum refurbishment is funded by Renfrewshire Council, the Scottish Government, the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Historic Environment Scotland and supported by a fundraising campaign led by a charitable trust, Paisley Museum Reimagined Ltd.
James Lang, chair of Paisley Museum Reimagined Ltd and director of Renfrewshire-based Scottish Leather Group thanked Clore Duffied.
He said: “Their support will help ensure the reopened museum will be a valuable educational facility at the heart of the town, will inspire and enrich the lives of young people for generations to come.”
The council has said the ambition behind the museum project is to create a new, world-class museum space, shaped and focussed by, and for, the people of the town, celebrating its history and impact on the world.
READ MORE: First look inside the new Paisley Library
Caroline Clark, The National Lottery Heritage Fund Director for Scotland, said: “This investment – and endorsement from Clore Duffield – is testament to the quality of the work the Paisley Museum team are putting into understanding what local people need in their new museum space, and will boost what already promises to be an incredible community programme when the museum re-opens.
“A key principle of Heritage 2033, our own 10-year strategy, is to increase access and participation in heritage and we congratulate Paisley Museum Re-imagined on securing this further investment in learning opportunities.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel