Museum secures support for new exhibition space

A North East museum is set to enhance its visitor experience with a new exhibition space.

Newcastle’s Discovery Museum has secured £193,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to develop a flexible area for hosting major temporary exhibitions. 

The investment will support the creation of a modern, adaptable space to replace the museum’s Working Lives gallery, which is due to close at the end of 2025.

Kylea Little, keeper of history at Discovery Museum, said: “The current temporary exhibition space is not suitable for the scale of exhibitions we hope to provide for our visitors. 

“In recent years we have had the first ever touring exhibition from The National Archives and we want to deliver higher profile exhibitions with our national museum partners, like the Science Museum, as well as showcasing Discovery Museum’s world-class collections, some of which may never have been displayed before.”  

“We’re really excited to be able to start this process – the first exhibition in the new space will be a family exhibition called Things That Go in summer 2026.” 

Discovery Museum occupies a landmark Victorian building that once housed the Cooperative Wholesale Society and is home to world-class displays telling the story of Tyneside. 

Its collections include Joseph Swan’s first commercial lightbulb, Turbinia – the world’s first steam-turbine powered ship – and popular family attractions such as Tiny Tyneside and the interactive Science Maze.

With a varied programme for all ages and free entry across three floors of galleries, the funding marks a significant step in expanding the museum’s capacity to bring high-profile exhibitions to the region.

Keith Merrin, director of North East Museums, added: “We know how important it is to keep the visitor offer fresh and interesting. 

“These funds will allow us to create a new flexible space that will enable us to deliver more high-quality exhibitions, experiences and events.  

“We’d like to say thank you to the National Lottery Heritage Fund and all Lottery players for supporting this development which will improve the museum experience for our visitors.”  

Helen Featherstone, director, England, North at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, added: “We’re thrilled to support the Discovery Museum in their aim to improve the visitor experience through the creation of a new flexible space, thanks to money raised by National Lottery players. 

“It’s great news that the transformation of the spaces will allow the museum to share more of their wonderful collection and host more exciting exhibitions in the North East.”  

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