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Jan 15, 2025 | 
museumsassociation.org | Simon Stephens |Amgueddfa Cymru
Liberal Democrat politician Jenny Randerson, a former Welsh culture minister, has died at 76. Randerson’s legacy includes free entry to Wales’s national museums, which she announced in 2001. Jane Dodds MS, leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, said: “Jenny dedicated her life to serving the people of Cardiff and Wales. From free entry to Wales’s national museums to the decision to build Wales Millennium Centre, her work as a minister left an indelible mark on our politics and society.
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Sep 12, 2024 | 
museumsassociation.org | Geraldine Kendall Adams |Amgueddfa Cymru
The Welsh Government's announcement that it is allocating an additional £5m to its museum, culture and sport arm's length bodies, which faced severe cuts earlier this year, is a welcome development. The new funding may help to ease some financial pressures, but months of uncertainty caused by the budget, as well as turmoil in government, have made 2024 a difficult year for Wales's embattled cultural heritage sector.
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Sep 5, 2024 | 
museumsassociation.org | Geraldine Kendall Adams |Amgueddfa Cymru
Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales and the National Library of Wales are among the arm’s-length bodies to benefit from a £5m funding boost from the Welsh Government following sweeping budget cuts earlier this year. Announcing the additional funding this week, the cabinet secretary for culture, Jane Hutt, said the government had listened to concerns regarding the financial pressures facing cultural and sporting institutions, and had “acted to help them mitigate against the difficulties they face”.
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Jul 18, 2024 | 
museumsassociation.org | Geraldine Kendall Adams |Amgueddfa Cymru
Upheaval in the Labour-led Welsh Government this week, including the resignations of first minister Vaughan Gething and culture secretary Lesley Griffiths, has brought fresh uncertainty to the culture sector in Wales. Griffiths, who was appointed to the role in March, joined three other ministers in quitting the cabinet in a vote of no confidence in Gething. He has faced a string of rows over campaign donations and the sacking of a government minister for allegedly leaking text messages.
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Jul 11, 2024 | 
museumsassociation.org | Geraldine Kendall Adams |Amgueddfa Cymru
The Welsh Government is to provide an additional £3.7m in funding this year to support urgent repairs and relieve financial pressures at national and local cultural institutions. Of this funding pot, £3.2m will be earmarked for repairs at the National Museum Cardiff and National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth. The remaining £500,000 will go to local and independent museums and archives, funding improvements to storage facilities and the protection of collections.
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Apr 19, 2024 | 
museumsassociation.org | Geraldine Kendall Adams |Amgueddfa Cymru
Specific funding will be made available to repair Amgueddfa Genedlaethol Caerdydd – National Museum Cardiff after warnings it could close, the Welsh culture secretary has told the Senedd this week. Lesley Griffiths, who was appointed culture secretary last month, was responding to questions on the future of Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales after the institution’s chief executive, Jane Richardson, told of the severe challenges it was facing following a £3m cut to its grant-in-aid.
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Apr 16, 2024 | 
museumsassociation.org | Geraldine Kendall Adams |Amgueddfa Cymru
Amgueddfa Cymru Closure Cuts Redevelopment The chief executive of Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales has warned that the institution is facing an "extremely difficult" situation following a £3m cut to its grant-in-aid. The institution is undergoing a sweeping restructure as it grapples with the funding cut alongside a £1.5m year-on-year funding deficit. Richardson told the BBC's Sunday Supplement that the institution had been "under double pressure" due to the scale and timing of the cut.
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Feb 27, 2024 | 
museumsassociation.org | Geraldine Kendall Adams |Amgueddfa Cymru
Museum workers protested outside the Senedd today as the Welsh Government published its final budget for 2024/25, confirming significant cuts to Welsh culture and heritage. Staff from Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales; the National Library of Wales; and the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales were among those demonstrating against cuts that they warn will have a “catastrophic” impact on the Welsh culture and heritage sector.
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Feb 20, 2024 | 
museumsassociation.org | Geraldine Kendall Adams |Amgueddfa Cymru
A Senedd petition has been launched urging the Welsh Government to increase rather than cut spending to the nation's museums and heritage. The government's draft budget is proposing a 10.5% revenue cut to Amgueddfa Cymru - Museum Wales and the National Library of Wales, and a 22.3% to the historic environment service, Cadw, which includes the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales.
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Feb 9, 2024 | 
museumsassociation.org | Geraldine Kendall Adams |Amgueddfa Cymru
The Welsh Government has been advised to reconsider some of its plans for significant cuts to the nation’s museum, heritage and culture sector, after sector bodies warned they would have a catastrophic impact. The government announced sweeping reductions in its draft 2024/25 budget last December, including a 10.5% cut to Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales and the Arts Council of Wales, and an even more severe 22.3% cut to the historic environment service, Cadw.
