New National Lottery Funding Secured

Entrance to The Postal Museum is via the ramp in the courtyard.

We are delighted to share that The Postal Museum has received £250,000 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to combat the significant financial impact closure has had on the museum, through the loss of its ticketing income.

The museum has been closed to the public since 18 March and will not reopen this summer, as it remains the case that to stay closed for the time being goes some way towards protecting its future.

The museum will have lost millions of pounds of income before it can reopen.

Laura Wright, CEO of The Postal Museum, said:

“We’re incredibly grateful that The National Lottery Heritage Fund is supporting us at this crucial time – it’s a lifeline to the museum. This funding will help support immediate staff costs and safeguard the future of our important and unique collection.

The National Lottery Heritage Fund supported the opening of The Postal Museum in 2017 and this new funding is a vote of confidence for the museum, giving us time to plan our reopening and get ready to welcome the public back to see our incredible collections and ride on Mail Rail again.”

Ros Kerslake, Chief Executive of The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said:

“Heritage has an essential role to play in making communities better places to live, supporting economic regeneration and benefiting our personal wellbeing. All of these things are going to be even more important as we emerge from this current crisis.”

“Thanks to money raised by National Lottery players we are pleased to be able to lend our support to organisations such as The Postal Museum during this uncertain time.”

The funding is awarded through The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Heritage Emergency Fund. £50million has been made available to provide emergency funding for those most in need across the heritage sector. Find out more about the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

A response to the recent announcement of the Government’s support package for the arts

Our National Lottery Heritage Fund grant was secured before the announcement of the Government’s £1.57bn support package for the arts. While the funding we have received from The National Lottery Heritage Fund is a vital lifeline for the immediate future of the museum, we require government support urgently to secure our long-term future.

Laura Wright, CEO of The Postal Museum:

“We welcome the announcement and look forward to hearing more details about how the funds will be allocated. Our biggest challenge is now the uncertainty about when we can reopen, how we can access these funds and whether they will support us to open sooner. Like theatres and live performance venues, opening our experience with social distancing restrictions, without government support, will damage our long-term financial sustainability. The £1.57bn announced to support the creative industries is a big step in the right direction from Government.”