TUDOR House has been successful in its application to the Arts Council England emergency fund and revealed the £7,000 cash injection will support work on the collections, giving the museum the chance to create a new employment opportunity.
This comes as their Crowdfunder project, Breaking Down the Barriers, is entering its last two weeks of fund-raising.
The project will create an iPad tour for people who, through physical disability, can’t access the museum when they visit, either on their own, or with their families.
The tour will feature two costumed guides, leading the person on a virtual tour around the museum, with collection hotspots and story corners that users can click on to access hidden stories about the museum and its former inhabitants.
There will be a gentle soundscape of the noises visitors would have heard in the house, throughout the centuries: the clinking of glasses in the Tavern, the clacking of looms in the Weaving Room, the wail of the air raid siren and the whirr of the dentist’s drill!
Subtitles will aid those who are deaf and struggle with lip reading, and by providing a quiet corner to access it in, people with sensory disorders will find the experience supportive and calming.
Tonia Collett, museum manager, said: “We’re so pleased to have been awarded the Arts Council England grant; it’s vital to the collections work we’re planning and is a great opportunity. We’ve also been blown away by the support for our Breaking Down the Barriers project, which was in the planning for a long time before the pandemic struck as inclusivity is very important to us.
“Funding we had hoped to access prior to the Covid-19 pandemic has been diverted to other means and our own resources are being used to keep the museum ready to reopen. To see the Crowdfunder perform so well at this difficult time is a huge boost for the team.
“It’s important we have positives to focus on now and just because our doors are closed, doesn’t mean we stop planning for the future. The response we’ve already received from our supporters is wonderful and we’re so grateful for the support of our local community.”
Visit www.crowdfunder.co.uk/breaking-down-the-barriers for more.
