Partner Article

Cultural teams join forces

Two Tyne and Wear cultural organisations are joining forces to make the most of their joint expertise.

The merger of Tyne & Wear Museums and Tyne & Wear Archives Service aims to enable the further development of the resources held by the museums and archives.

The new service, Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums, is also celebrating being awarded Public Sector Organisation of the Year for Tyneside and Northumberland at the North East Business Awards (awarded to Tyne & Wear Museums before the services officially merged).

The merger will also unite collections that have been designated as being of national importance.

Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums manages 12 museums and galleries across Tyne & Wear, and the record office for Newcastle upon Tyne, Sunderland, Gateshead, South Tyneside and North Tyneside.

Alec Coles, director of Tyne & Wear Museums, said: “This is about improving public services, and whilst it is a significant event for both organisations, it is even more so for our users who can now expect a fully integrated approach. Both organisations are concerned with preserving our heritage and making it accessible to as many people as possible. We are looking forward to working together and to learning from each other.”

Liz Rees, chief archivist of Tyne & Wear Archives Service said: “Archives haven’t benefited from the extra money that has been invested in museums in recent years. We now look forward to this opportunity to raise the profile of our service in partnership with our museum colleagues.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .