Friends of Rushden Museum will use its £10,000 grant to provide new areas to display artefacts, allowing the local community to enjoy new exhibits. The grant will contribute toward the cost of display cases, boards and signs for the recently extended museum.
Sarah Peacock, Chairman and daughter of the musem’s founder, said:
“The idea for the museum came from my mother, Susan Hollowell, and other local historians who were concerned that with the rapid growth of the town, Rushden had nowhere to preserve and exhibit its history. While there is a Historic Transport Museum here, there was nowhere preserving the social side of the town. This was a shoemaking town and at one point had 38 shoemakers; now there are just three. We’re working to save our history for those that come into the town so that they know why we’re here.
“We started off with a three-year lease to test the water, and have been so well-received – including support from the District and Town Council – that we now have a 10-year lease and have extended into a small space behind Rushden Hall. This grant is tremendous recognition of the hard work the trustees and volunteers have put in and how supportive the town has been in enjoying what we do.
“The schoolchildren love it when they come here, finding it fascinating to learn about how shoes were made in the past, examining the tools and putting themselves in the place of those shoemakers. We call the museum our little acorn, and with Awards for All’s help, we’re now growing branches.”
Also benefiting from the latest round of awards is Denford Women's Institute, using its grant of £5,186 to provide a two night residential course for 20 of its members to Denman College, the WI’s teaching college near Oxford. Courses will cover a range of subjects including music, healthy eating, arts and crafts, literature and theatre
Maureen Allum, Events and Speaker Organiser, said:
“We’re a very enthusiastic committee in a tiny village that has seen its shop and pub close and is without a bus service. Opportunities to have enriching experiences are therefore limited, so it’s wonderful to bring these experiences nearer to home.
“The grant from Awards for All means we can take part in courses such as silversmithing or art, bring new skills to the community and broaden our horizons. If I get the opportunity to learn more about art, for example, I can open up a room I have turned into a studio to the whole village. Everyone can benefit from this grant, not just the WI members, and it’s a tremendous opportunity for the village.”
Awards for All is the small grants scheme administered by the Big Lottery Fund on behalf of Lottery good cause funders, Arts Council England, Big Lottery Fund, Heritage Lottery Fund and Sport England. The scheme is now closed and each of the lottery good cause distributors who supported the scheme now run their own individual small grants programmes. For further information, visit www.awardsforall.org.uk.
Mick McGrath, Big Lottery Fund Head of the East Midlands Region, said on behalf of the Awards for All funders: “It is thanks to the efforts of the Friends of Rushden Museum and Denford WI that towns and villages remain a community, and we’re delighted to support them. These projects make up part of the 21 awards given in the East Midlands, sharing more than £150,000 of Lottery grants this month alone.”
For a full list of award recipients see related documents.
