Scottish museums to receive extra £500k to help with cost-of-living challenges

The Scottish Government will provide an additional £500,000 of funding this financial year to help tackle the ongoing cost-of-living challenges facing the museum sector.

Culture Minister Neil Grey confirmed the funding during the launch of Scotland’s Museums and Galleries Strategy 2023-2030 on Thursday.

The cash injection will create a more resilient and sustainable museums sector in Scotland.

Mr Grey said museums make an important contribution to the Scottish economy and communities across the country.

It comes after the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art was forced to close its Modern 2 building in Edinburgh due to challenges with rising running costs.

Mr Gray said: “Scotland has a diverse and impressive wealth of heritage and culture, and this is amply represented in everything our excellent museums offer – to the people of Scotland and to the many visitors we welcome every year.

“Given the current cost-of-living challenges, and the tough financial situation that we are in, we have to prioritise activity to creating a more resilient and sustainable sector.

“The Scottish Government continues to recognise the important contribution that the museum sector can and will deliver to our communities, and to our national priorities including the economy, our journey to net zero, and our health and wellbeing.

“The increased funding for resilience will assist the sector to be more sustainable and ensure it is better able to address these priorities.”

Lucy Casot, chief executive of Museums Galleries Scotland, said: “We warmly welcome the announcement of additional funding for our sector from the Scottish Government.

“We had a huge response to our resilience fund and we are very pleased that this funding will enable us to support more museums and galleries to manage ongoing cost-of-living challenges and to undertake energy efficiency projects.”