Milton Keynes Museum celebrates large grant from National Lottery Heritage Fund

Milton Keynes Museum has this week received a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant of almost a quarter of a million pounds.

The £222,850 handout will go towards new displays in a gallery built in partnership with the city council.

The museum was set up by the people, and for the people, of Milton Keynes, on farmland just outside Wolverton.

In helping to unite communities in this, its 50th year, it is creating a hands-on adventure that engages all the senses to tell the internationally significant story of Milton Keynes - including its place today as a thriving 21st Century city.

The city’s story is still unfolding and the galleries will change and evolve alongside its communities – just as the museum has for 50 years.

The series of displays will include; The Beginning – the decision makers and their plans; the contextual timeline – each decade since the 1960s; How to bring woods and wild spaces meaning in an inside space; The Plans – grids and separating people from the traffic; The People's Story – how to be inclusive and tell the stories as an unmissable attraction.

“This has been the Museum's aim since the new galleries were launched in 2019,” said Museum Director Bill Griffiths, “Thanks to the generosity of the Heritage Fund and importantly, the National Lottery players we can now realise this dream.

“It will be a crucial moment in the development of the Museum which is a jewel in the crown of the new city. It brings us so much closer to sharing Milton Keynes' rich history – both ancient and modern – with people from all over the country and beyond.

“Milton Keynes is a special place with a special story, and this grant will take us nearer our dream of telling that story in glorious detail. We are thrilled.”

Since The National Lottery began in 1994, players have raised over £46billion for projects and more than 670,000 grants have been awarded across the UK,

More than £30 million raised each week goes to good causes across the UK.