Funding boost for University collections

The Fitzwilliam Museum and Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences have received grants totalling £328,000, provided jointly by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Wolfson Foundation.

The Sedgwick Museum has been allocated £28,000 to assist in the redevelopment of its entrance and galleries, providing easier access for disabled visitors.

One of the University's many hidden treasures, and its oldest museum, the Sedgwick is packed full of fossils, with more than one million in its collection. These range from the earliest forms of life from more than 3000 million years ago, to the wildlife that roamed the Fens less than 150,000 years ago.

The grant will lead to a range of features, including new lighting for the entrance stairways, modification to the entrance doors, the purchase of portable ramps and handrails, induction loops for the lecture theatres, an intercom, as well as improved signage and leaflets.

These improvements are part of a wider project to improve disabled access for students, teachers and researchers throughout the Department of Earth Sciences.

Sedgwick Museum Director, Dr David Norman said: “It is enormously satisfying to be rewarded in this way. It demonstrates that all the efforts that we have made over the past few years to ensure that the Museum is accessible to all members of the public have been recognised.”

The Fitzwilliam Museum has been awarded £300,000 towards the refurbishment of its Greek and Roman gallery - one of the most popular galleries in the Museum, displaying classical antiquities against a backdrop of magnificent nineteenth century neo-classical architecture.

The grant will enable the Fitzwilliam to redisplay the Greek and Roman collections in appropriate cultural or chronological groupings, with a particular emphasis on improving visitor access - both physical and intellectual - and increasing information provision, as well as upgrading the display environment of the objects.

The Fitzwilliam's collection of Greek and Roman antiquities is one of the two finest collections in the UK outside London and is also of international significance, with especially distinguished examples of Greek and Roman sculpture and Greek vases.

Keeper of Antiquities Dr Lucilla Burn said: "We are absolutely thrilled to have received so generous a grant in support of this vital gallery refurbishment. The project will vastly enhance visitors' experience of Greek and Roman culture through redisplayed collections and improved information provision."

Culture Minister Margaret Hodge said: “Once again the DCMS Wolfson Fund is providing support for museums and galleries from all regions of England. This year's grants go to an imaginative array of projects in national institutions, university collections and well-loved local museums and galleries. This funding will give visitors the best possible experience of some wonderful collections.”

The Sedgwick Museum welcomes over 50,000 visitors a year. The Museum is open Monday – Friday 10.00 - 1700; Saturday: 10.00 – 16.00.

The Fitzwilliam Museum offers a wide-ranging programme of temporary exhibitions and events, and has an award-winning Education Service. The Museum is open Tuesday – Saturday: 10.00 – 17.00, Sunday and Bank Holiday Mondays: 12.00 - 17.00.

Admission to both is free.

For more information about both the Sedgwick and Fitzwilliam museum go to the links at the top of the page.