Member Article

Banks brings wildlife to museum

Visitors to the North East’s newest museum are being brought closer to Northumbrian nature after a developer injected £20,000 into the attraction.

Tyne and Wear Archives & Museums has used the funding from the Durham based Banks Group to set up electronic interactive equipment in four learning areas which are built to resemble wildlife observation hides.

The hides, which show the region’s animals and plants, are now in use at the Natural Northumbria Gallery and the recently re-opened Great North Museum: Hancock, and have already drawn in 300,000 people since opening May.

Alec Coles, director at Tyne & Wear Archives and Museums, said: “Only when it is viewed in a location such as the Natural Northumbria gallery can we really appreciate the diversity of flora and fauna that exist in the locations that make up this beautiful part of the country.

“The different habitat ‘hides’ provide an excellent platform to learn about the wealth of natural environments that the North East has to offer and the interactive nature of the resources give visitors a great chance to get very hands-on.”

Mark Dowdall, environment and community director at Banks, added: “The Natural Northumbria Gallery demonstrates the natural diversity and richness of the area, the hides provide an ideal location where visitors can learn more about it.”

As well as being used by visitors to the museum, the wildlife exhibition will also be the setting for primary and secondary school children from across the region.

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