The National Lottery Heritage Fund
Dean Heritage Centre gains support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund for plans to redevelop the site.
The Dean Heritage Centre has received £164,000 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund for their “Investing in the Past, Present and Future” project, it was announced today. Made possible thanks to National Lottery players, the project aims to transform the Museum, visitor facilities and surrounding landscape to engage a wider range of audiences, preserve the heritage of the Forest of Dean and make the Centre sustainable in the long term.
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The collection at the Dean Heritage Centre is the only one that tells the story of the Forest of Dean and without this funding from the Heritage Fund it could be lost forever.
To ensure that our vision for the future is realistic the project will undertake the following;
Business Options Appraisal - to maximise existing revenue and find new income sources.
Audience Development – to identify and consult with new audiences and the local community to find out what people want to see and do on site, including trialling learning and citizen science activities on site.
Collections Review - to assess the significance of our collections and develop ideas for displays.
Topographical and Biodiversity Surveys - to analyse the best ways to develop the outside space.
Hydrogeological Survey - to help us understand the ground conditions and water flow on site.
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Volunteers, local groups and schools will be able to take part in the project through taking part in our learning and citizen science activities, and by contributing their thoughts to our future plans.
In the long-term, the project will build the foundations for a major redevelopment project at the Dean Heritage Centre.
The Dean Heritage Centre will be actively seeking volunteers and views from the local community about the future of the Centre throughout the project. Keep an eye on our Facebook page for details for these or sign up to our newsletter.
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Mark George, Centre Manager at the Dean Heritage Centre said: “We are very excited to have received this support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players we can now develop our plans to transform the museum to engage a wider range of people, preserve the Forest’s heritage and become sustainable well into the future”.
For further information, images and interviews please contact Mark George at the Dean Heritage Centre on 01594 822170, or mark@deanheritagecentre.com

