Fresh boost for Gairloch Museum

VISITORS to a Wester Ross museum at the heart of an exciting revamp are set to have greater access than ever to a wealth of fascinating local history.

Gairloch Heritage Museum is one of 14 around Scotland to benefit from a boost from Museums Galleries Scotland.

The organisation’s Museum Development Fund 2018 supports accredited facilities to become more resilient.

Gairloch’s project is focussed on creating a modern artefact store which will make its entire collection accessible to the public and enrich visitors’ experiences

The museum is due to move into its new premises in the village next yearVistio and the £21,500 funding from MGS will be used to fit out the artefact store, library and archive in the new building with state of the art racking.

The funds will also allow the museum to employ a conservator to help volunteers unpacking objects into storage to ensure they are safe but accessible to visitors and researchers. Visitors will then be able to access behind the scenes areas of the museum, experiencing objects up close.

Curator Dr Karen Buchanan explained: "We want to make as much of the material in our collections accessible as possible. This includes not only our objects in storage, but also the wealth of archive and library material we hold, which document the history of Gairloch parish. This funding will maximise our storage space, protect our collection for the future and enrich our visitors’ experiences."

Museums Galleries Scotland is the National Development Body for museums and galleries in Scotland and offers strategic development support to the sector. This round of funding saw over £550,000 awarded to 15 different projects in 14 museums across Scotland. Gairloch Heritage Museum museum plans to move its collection early in the new year and to start opening its stores to the public next summer.

Its new premises have been fashioned from a former anti-aircraft operations room, a piece of local history in itself.

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