Brighton and Hove Museums has been awarded more than £2 million by Arts Council England.

Bosses at the organisation said they were “pleased and relieved” to receive the funding of £2,134,08 for three years, which is the full amount they applied for and on the same level as previous years.

The grant comes from the 2023-26 Investment Programmes for National Portfolio Organisations (NPO) and Investment Principles Support Organisations (IPSO).

Over 1,700 organisations submitted applications for funding although not all were successful.

Arts Council England said that the announcement today will provide £446 million per annum of investment to bring art, culture, and creativity to more people, in more places, across the country.

The organisation believes that the funding is more important in tough economic times, when arts, museums and libraries offer comfort, distraction and everyday wonders to communities, and investment in creative talent and organisations will drive growth in our world leading creative industries.   

Brighton and Hove Museums have an ambitious three-year plan which focuses on education and enhanced community involvement, alongside a culture change programme focusing on becoming an anti-racist, socially engaged organisation.

The organsiation incorporates several sites including the Royal Pavilion, Hove Museum of Creativity and Brighton Museum and Art Gallery.

The museum set out its aims for the next three years, which include:

  • Creating an expanded learning offer reaching a wider range of people across all ages
  • Focusing on rebranding Hove and Booth museums as centres for creativity, craft and filmmaking and environmentally focused research
  • Creating more opportunities for individuals to participate in creative and cultural activities
  • Forming partnerships with two local universities to support and co-deliver university qualifications
  • Creating ambitious programming, incorporating more cross-artform experiences
  • Exploring new technology solutions for museums in collaboration with key partners
  • Creating opportunities for creative practitioners through supporting formal qualifications, apprenticeship roles, and mentoring and employment opportunities for artists

CEO of Brighton & Hove Museums Hedley Swain said: “We are incredibly grateful to Arts Council England for this vote of support.

“Despite continuing to be exceedingly difficult and unpredictable times this funding will allow us to deliver high quality and innovative museum programmes to the people of Brighton & Hove and beyond for the next three years.”