Hartlepool's National Museum of the Royal Navy set to reopen thanks to cash to secure its future

The National Museum of the Royal Navy (NMRN) will receive emergency additional cash after the closure of the network of sites left a shortfall of £6.35 million in its income and on the verge of insolvency.

The funding means the team in charge of the museum in Maritime Avenue, as well as sites in Portsmouth, Gosport and Yeovilton, can plan their reopening, with dates to be confirmed in coming weeks.

The NMRN has been told it will receive funding from Her Majesty’s Treasury due to the losses incurred by the closure during the coronavirus crisis.

It has said without this support, it would have had to declare itself insolvent within the next month.

But the museum has said it is “not out of the woods yet” as it has said there are longer-term financial issues to face, with bosses to look at an overhaul of how it is funded in coming months.

Dominic Tweddle, director general for the NMRN said: “I cannot express the relief we all felt when were told that additional funding would be made available to us.

"It has been incredibly difficult over the last weeks and months with so much uncertainty around the future of the museum.

"We are incredibly grateful to HM Treasury, MOD and the Royal Navy for all of their support and also to all of those who have advocated on our behalf.”

Many UK national museums receive between 60% and 80% of their total funding from central government.

NMRN says while it is a national museum and holds an internationally recognised collection, only 19% of its funding is provided by the Government with the remaining 81% to be self-generated.

This is means that unlike its peers, NMRN is not able to offer the same access to its collections through free entry and is dependent on income meaning it is more akin to the independent museum sector.

The organisation has said HMS Caroline in Belfast will not reopen this year, as it is governed by a different funding model through the Northern Ireland Executive.

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