V&A Dundee has reached the huge milestone of £2 million of funding, thanks to players of People’s Postcode Lottery.
After eight years of support from the People’s Postcode Lottery, Scotland’s design museum revealed the impressive sum today.
But what has it been used for?
The People’s Postcode Lottery funding has mainly been channelled into the museum’s Communities and Families Programme since its opening in 2018, as well as outreach work prior to the opening.
Projects made possible by the funding have included the current Night Fever: Designing Club Culture exhibition, as well as:
Design Busters, a free phoneline that shared a weekly design challenge for children and their families.
This project quickly adapted a popular programme that had been running in the museum to support families during lockdown.
Around 10,000 free copies of an activity book were later shared with families across Scotland to inspire their creativity during the school holidays.
These were used to support the wellbeing of people with dementia and their carers, working with organisations including Alzheimer Scotland.
The museum adapted its normal tour programme to remote video tours, allowing more people to engage regardless of their ability to travel to the museum.
The Barchester care home partnership
The museum hosted a series of talks for residents of Barchester care homes (who have several locations in Dundee as well as across Scotland).
The talk subjects ranged from Kengo Kuma’s award-winning architecture for the museum to the inspirational fashion designer Mary Quant.
The cash has also allowed the museum to run Sensory Friendly Days since lockdown ended.
These provide a secure environment for people with autism spectrum conditions, sensory processing differences, or profound and multiple learning disabilities.
And thanks to the People’s Postcode Lottery support, they are provided free of charge.
Leonie Bell, Director of V&A Dundee, said: “The support from players of People’s Postcode Lottery has been incredibly generous to V&A Dundee over the last eight years.
“Our Sensory Friendly Days give visitors with complex needs the opportunity to experience the museum in a totally different way.
“This simply wouldn’t be possible without this support.”
And Laura Chow, head of charities at People’s Postcode Lottery, added: “It’s incredible to reach this funding milestone with V&A Dundee.
“It wouldn’t have been possible without our players.
“We believe access to museums and the arts should be available to all members of the community. V&A Dundee is a great example of this in action.”