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Renaissance North West has been given £5.7m by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council to deliver a series of 60 innovative projects from 2006-2008. This programme supports the development of outstanding museums in the north west.
By the end of March 2008, Renaissance North West will be supporting 90 new posts in the region. These posts will focus on increasing access to collections, education and learning, strengthening the working of our museums, developing the workforce and understanding our audiences.
The 9 regional Hubs have been set targets by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council. This year the North West Hub is working to achieve:
- 80,000 new contacts between children and the Hub museums and galleries
- 390,445 visits from priority groups in 2008
- 1,161,324 total visits at the Hub venues in 2008
Progress towards delivering our targets can already be seen throughout the region. Between 2002 – 2006, 271,050 school children have visited Hub venues and of these children, 40,369 took part in weekend and holiday workshops. Manchester Museum alone has seen a rise of 17% in school visits since 2002.
Overall, the number of children participating in Hub museums outreach activities has increased by 16% in the last year. Bolton had over 4000 children participate in outreach activities last year.
Renaissance funding is also having an impact on the development of new audiences for the Hub. 11,086 adults have participated in outreach activities at Hub museums since 2002, while Tullie House alone has seen an increased by over 400%.
There has also been an increase in virtual visitors at many of the Hub museums. Since 2002, on-line visitor figures have increased 55% across the six websites. Since Manchester City Galleries redeveloped and re-launched their website last year, on-line visitor figures have doubled to 821,960. The Harris Museum and Art Gallery’s was able to redevelop it’s website using open source software.
The Primary Consultant for Manchester schools has had contact with 1073 teachers.
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