Mansfield Museum chosen for top early years project to support families

Mansfield Museum has been awarded £65,000 for an ambitious and prestigious programme to help enrich the lives of families with young children

The funding has come from a national charity, Art Fund, and Mansfield’s museum is one of just eight venues that have been chosen from across the UK to take part in the Early Years Innovation in Museums scheme. Other museums chosen for the scheme include Tate Britain, National Galleries of Scotland, National Museums Northern Ireland, and Museum Wales.

The two-year research and development intervention aims to support early child development and enhance parent-child interactions among priority families.

In Mansfield, the programme will build on an existing pilot project which has seen the early years team at the museum and Nottingham Trent University working with local schools in priority neighbourhoods to improve the school readiness of youngsters in the area.

The Early Years Innovation in Museums scheme is being guided by Art Fund in partnership with Nesta (National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts), an independent charity set up in 1998 with a mission to drive social innovation in the UK. One of its key missions is to improve the outcomes of children growing up facing disadvantage.

Cllr Stuart Richardson, Portfolio Holder for Regeneration and Growth, said: “We are thrilled and proud to have been awarded this funding which will do so much to help the museum reach and enrich the lives of very young children in this district.

“The application process to be selected for this prestigious national programme was really tough and the Museum team should be rightly proud of their achievement in impressing the Art Fund and Nesta panel.

“It is early days as to how precisely this funding will be woven into our work with young children but we know it is going to make a significant difference to how we able to support families who are among those most in need in the district.”

Art Fund Director Jenny Waldman said: “Museums are inspiring places for children and their families in every part of the UK. This exciting project combines the skills and expertise of Art Fund and Nesta, along with eight museums and galleries across the UK, to harness their amazing spaces and collections in a programme designed to break down barriers to opportunity. Together, we will design a way of working that will have real impact where it’s most needed.

"The importance of foundational early-years experiences is crucial to giving the next generation the skills and experience to thrive. This programme and the recent Art Fund Museum of the Year winner, Young V&A, show how a museum can be an agent of change and inspiration to the next generation.”

The museum will be working closely with associate artists and early years specialists Michelle Reader and Miriam Keye, who have been central pillars in work to reach families with young children.

Museum staff have been learning more about the expectations of the programme and will be drawing up an action plan in the coming weeks.