Museums and heritage

Museums across Liverpool are expected to stay closed after the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) rejected a pay offer from National Museums Liverpool (NML).

In a post, Laura Pye, Director of National Museums Liverpool, said that "with a heavy heart", NML's five venues will remain mostly closed until at least 14 April, when the current strike period is due to end.

More than 200 NML staff began a two-month strike on 17 February in a dispute over a cost-of-living payment after 94% of employees balloted by PCS backed a walkout.

The union says NML is the only government employer not to pay its staff an agreed-upon £1,500 cost-of-living payment. The government introduced the retrospective payment for civil servants as part of a pay deal for 2022-2023 following a campaign by PCS to help its members cope with soaring inflation.

However, in her post, Pye said, “NML has never promised this payment. In fact, we were very clear when the government announced that unless an additional grant in aid payment was given to us to cover this, we would be unable to pay it.

“National government has also been very clear that the payment was promised to civil servants, and because NML colleagues are not civil servants, they were not in scope.”

She also claimed that of the 15 National Museums services, NML is one of 10 that has not been able to pay the £1,500 in addition to the additional pay awards agreed upon.

The latest offer made to PCS Union members on 20 March included a £750 one-off non-consolidated payment, an increase in annual leave to 30 days plus Bank Holidays, a commitment to shut down the venues every Christmas Eve, and the provision of complimentary tea, coffee, and milk in staff rooms.

English Heritage and the Trussell Trust have announced a new initiative to provide free days out for people who access food banks. 

Following a successful pilot scheme last summer, people on the lowest incomes will be able to receive a voucher for a free visit to their local English Heritage site alongside their emergency food parcel.

More than 100 food bank centres in the Trussell Trust network and 25 English Heritage properties across England will be taking part in the 2024 partnership. 

English Heritage sites participating in the 2024 scheme include Stonehenge in Wiltshire, Osborne—Queen Victoria’s seaside home—on the Isle of Wight, Corbridge Roman Town on Hadrian’s Wall, and Clifford’s Tower in York.

Nick Merriman, English Heritage’s Chief Executive, said: “As a charity, one of our key aims is to ensure that as many people as possible can enjoy the great historic sites in our care. 

"And although we’ve seen our visitor and member numbers increase, we know that for some, the opportunity of a day out is simply out of reach. 

"We’re really delighted to be teaming up with the Trussell Trust to help those who are often most in need of some time out with their family and friends.”

The offer will be valid until 3 November 2024 and is available to anyone receiving emergency food and support from one of the participating Trussell Trust food banks.

Police are investigating an incident of vandalism at Cambridge University which saw two pro-Palestine protesters spray paint on then slash a portrait of former Conservative Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour.

On 8 March the group Palestine Action posted a video online of an unidentified person defacing the 1914 painting, which was on display at Trinity College.

Sally Davies, Master of Trinity College, said in a statement: “I am shocked by [the] attack in our college on our painting. I condemn this act of vandalism. We are cooperating with the police to bring the perpetrators to justice.”

Palestine Action said in an online statement: “Arthur Balfour, then UK Foreign Secretary, issued a declaration [in 1917] which promised to build ‘a national home for the Jewish people’ in Palestine, where the majority of the indigenous population were not Jewish.

"He gave away the Palestinians’ homeland – a land that wasn’t his to give away. Britain’s support for the continued colonisation of Palestine hasn’t wavered since 1917.”

Others have interpreted Balfour's declaration differently. The full declaration states that "nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine”.

A tour operator company has ranked London the best city in the world for museums and galleries.

Audley Travel’s analysis revealed which cities have the highest number of five-star rated museums and galleries on Trip Advisor.

There are over 170 museums and galleries in London, enough to visit a new one every week for over three years, and 97 have a five-star rating on Trip Advisor.

London outranked Prague for top position, with Paris, Istanbul and New York rounding out the top five.

Jacqui Kaliouby, a UK specialist at Audley Travel, said London’s museums and galleries are “constantly changing with fresh exhibitions, new talks and innovative interactive experiences”.

She added that many of the city’s biggest and most renowned museums being free and easy to access helps strengthen its position.

King George's Hall in Blackburn will undergo an £8m renovation, it has been announced.

The Lancashire Telegraph reports that the money will come from a Levelling-Up grant of £20m to Blackburn with Darwen Council from the government, with the work concentrating on the interior of the building.

The remainder of the new money will go on refurbishment of nearby Tony’s Ballroom, the redevelopment of Blackburn's historic town centre The Exchange building, and transforming the Imperial Mill for employment and cultural use .

Blackburn with Darwen Council Leader Phil Riley said: "The announcement comes after months of hard work between council and government officials, who have together developed a strong investment package to support town centre growth priorities.

"At the heart of the bid is an impressive £8m to renovate the ever-popular King George’s Hall - a key element of Blackburn’s new £50m Cultural Quarter.

"There’ll also be new investment for the likes of Tony’s Ballroom, The Exchange and Imperial Mill.

"I am delighted with the money for King George's Hall which is an vital part of the cultural, artistic and leisure life of the borough and wider area."

Chiswick House & Gardens Trust (CHGT) has unveiled plans to create a new learning hub with facilities to support 200 volunteers and artists’ studios.

The project aims to address the charity’s long-term viability and will also work with local residents to turn an unused outdoor space into a fruit garden.

CHGT said creating its new "campus”, Cedar Yards, will support the growth and accessibility of its volunteering and community activity. The addition of affordable workspaces for up to 100 artists and makers will also offer a new source of income for the trust.

So far, a third of the project cost has been raised, underpinned by funding from London Borough of Hounslow through Strategic Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) grants and funds from the Thriving Communities and Creative Enterprise Zone Grants. The rest of the funds are being raised from charitable and private sources.

Xanthe Arvanitakis, Director of Chiswick House and Gardens Trust, said: “This ambitious project has been designed to directly impact the wellbeing of our local community as well as enhancing cultural and creative enterprise activity in London Borough of Hounslow.

"By creating more public green spaces for local people, we can expand our learning and community programme, which is currently running at capacity. With the introduction of affordable workspaces for artists and makers, we will foster a local creative economy and generate much-needed new income for the trust.”