Museum Wins Community Heritage Grant

Coffs Harbour Regional Museum has been awarded a $5,500 federal Community Heritage Grant to fund a significant assessment of the museum’s collection.

The grants are managed by the National Library of Australia based in Canberra, where they were also presented on 30 October, 2018.

This year, grants worth $367,470 were distributed to 60 community groups and organisations from around Australia to assist in the identification and preservation of community owned but nationally significant heritage collections.

Roslyn Cousins, Team Leader Library, Museum, Gallery and Cultural Services said the grant was important in supporting the effort to preserve the museum’s collection at the grassroots level.

“This will grant will allow us to bring a specialist consultant to Coffs Harbour to work with the Museum team to explore the meaning and value of the collection within the history of Australia, paving the way for further grants to make the collection more available to the public.”

“In addition to the grant Museum Curator Dr Jo Besley was also able to attend a three day workshop while in Canberra that focused on preservation and collection management.” “It is these types of opportunities that help us protect our collection and make it accessible while it remains in the local context,” she said.

The Community Heritage Grants are funded by the Australian Government through the Department of Communications and the Arts; the National Archives of Australia; the National Film and Sound Archive; the National Museum of Australia and the National Library.