MORE than £300,000 has been donated to three county museum operators as part of funding intended to secure their futures.

Lancashire Museums has been donated £162,145 for its ‘Waving Not Drowning’ project while Higher Mill Museum Trust has received £113, 319 for its project titled ‘Trust in the Future, Secure Lancashire Industrial Heritage’.

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Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery has been donated £58,500 for its access programme.

Higher Mill makes up part of the Helmshore Mills Textile museum in Rossendale alongside Whitaker’s Mill and has previously had question marks over its future.

Rebecca Johnson, arts manager at Blackburn Museum, said: “It’s brilliant for the museum, it’s going to enable us to put on more collections and displays for people in the area.”

“It’s a really competitive grant and we’re pleased that we got through and got the funding.”

The donations came as part of the second round of Arts Council England’s Museum Resilience fund which has seen £12.2million donated to 94 museums and organisations around the country to help them become sustainable.

Cllr Marcus Johnstone, the County Council’s cabinet member for environment, planning and cultural services, said: “This is obviously really good news. It will be used to provide a tailored package of support to the potential new operators of the museums when they take them over, to give them the best possible chance of success.”

Bernard Rostron, chairman of Higher Mill Museum Trust, is hopeful that the money received will help secure their future. He said: “We are obviously delighted to be receiving the money. It’s a tremendous vote of confidence from Arts Council England. It is important that we keep the mill going and we protect it. This grant will be a tremendous boost to that objective. A petition to save Helmshore Mill Museum had reached more than 10,000 signatures in July this year.

The site is at risk of shutting its doors for good on September 30 as Lancashire County Council seeks to save money, but the latest funds will aim to save the service.

John Orna-Ornstein, of Arts Council England who gave the grant, said: “The focus of our investment approach for museums in 2015-18 is on building a more resilient sector. The fund responds directly to the challenges facing museums like those in Lancashire.”