The Brontë Society has been announced as one of the Arts Council’s National Portfolio Organisations for the period 2018 – 2022.
The Society, which administers the accredited Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth, applied to the NPO programme for funding following the Arts Council’s decision to integrate museums into the portfolio. The successful application means the Brontë Society will receive a total of £930,000 over the next four years.
Kitty Wright, Executive Director of the Brontë Society, said:
“This is tremendously exciting for the Brontë Society. The funding will enable us to deepen our work for and with young people and help us reach new and diverse audiences. We also look forward to developing our digital offer, so that we can share our work with those currently unable to access it due to distance, disability or other barriers. Applying for funding is always a very competitive process and while we recognise that not all of our fellow museums and arts organisations will be as fortunate as ourselves today, we are extremely proud and delighted that the Arts Council has chosen to support our vision and ambition.
John Thirlwell, Chair of the Brontë Society, said:
“To receive this news at any time in an organisation’s history would be fantastic, but coming as it does in the midst of our five-year bicentennial festival, it’s the icing on the cake and will provide a huge boost to our mission to bring the Brontës to the world and the world to Yorkshire. I look forward to working with everyone at the museum to help us bring all our plans to fruition.”