Medical museum secures £420,000 funding boost

A medical museum has secured more than £420,000 in funding to help shape its future as it prepares to celebrate its 30th anniversary.

Thackray Museum of Medicine, which opened in 1997 in the former Leeds Union Workhouse next to St James’s University Hospital, has received support from several grant organisations, led by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

The funding includes £249,500 from the Heritage Fund and will support plans for the museum’s Grade II-listed home, its nationally significant collection and efforts to attract wider audiences.

Work will include consultation with communities, academics, partners and staff, alongside the development of longer-term fundraising, philanthropic giving and commercial plans.

The museum will also explore options for upgrading or replacing its roof, including the potential creation of an additional floor to provide space for future programmes, partnerships and income-generating activity.

Edward Appleyard, chief executive of Thackray Museum of Medicine, said: “This announcement comes at a hugely exciting moment for Thackray. 

“As we prepare to celebrate 30 years since opening, this support gives us the time and space to think ambitiously about what the museum can become over the next three decades, and how the museum and its collection can best serve our visitors and the wide-ranging communities – from healthcare professionals to diverse Harehills residents – around us.

“Since reopening after our redevelopment in 2021, we have been on a journey to strengthen Thackray’s role and reach, which has included recognition as a finalist for Art Fund Museum of the Year and being shortlisted for European Museum of the Year. 

“We’ve launched new programmes, improved accessibility, changed our pricing approach to welcome wider audiences, and developed a more diversified income model so we can better fulfil our charitable purpose.

“Looking ahead to 2027, this new support will allow us to build on our progress by rethinking how our spaces are used, open up more opportunities for people to connect with our collections, and work with communities, creatives, researchers and partners to make Thackray even braver, more accessible and more sustainable for the future.”

Helen Featherstone, director, England, North at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, added: “We’re delighted that thanks to money raised by National Lottery players we can support Thackray to work towards a strong and resilient future as it marks its 30th anniversary. 

“It is fantastic news that Thackray will put their visitors and local communities at the heart of their plans to shape the future of this much-loved heritage attraction.”

The investment comes as Thackray prepares to mark its 30th anniversary in 2027 with a new programme of exhibitions and events.

Its headline exhibition, Complexion, will open in February and explore the experiences of people with melanin-rich skin, including stories of pride alongside experiences of being unheard, overlooked and mistreated.

Running until June, it will be accompanied by events including No Filter: Love Letters to Melanin on February 11 and Body Politics on March 13.

Ahead of the anniversary year, Thackray’s autumn and winter programme will begin this month with its Mighty Mushrooms half-term activities, linked to the ongoing Where Magic Grows exhibition.

Its adult-only Thackray Lates series will also return on October 29 with Grave Expectations: Gothic Fiction Unmasked, exploring the connections between gothic fiction, health, science and society.

Professor Neil Kaiper-Holmes, outgoing chair of Thackray Museum of Medicine, added: “As my time as chair comes to an end and I begin the handover to Neil Clephan OBE, chair-elect, I am heartened by the progress that has been made during my time with Thackray over the past seven years and the ambitions that remain to help shape a better tomorrow for the museum, its collections, visitors and local community. 

“Thackray has a great team behind it, who I know will explore all the opportunities that this funding offers. 

“With Neil Clephan’s support I’m sure they will deliver a plan for the next 30 years that allows the museum to be financially sustainable, environmentally responsible and resilient to future challenges. 

“I’m very much looking forward to seeing what happens next, and to celebrating the 30th birthday milestone next year with an exciting new season of programmed events.”

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