South Shields Museum & Art Gallery has recently taken significant steps to become more environmentally sustainable through the installation of several energy saving measures, including new energy panels, air source heat pumps and LED lighting. The changes come as part of a broader initiative by the Tyne & Wear Archive and Museums to reinforce their commitment to the environment and to reducing carbon emissions.
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00:00 This building actually dates back to 1860. It's been a museum since 1876.
00:05 So as you can imagine, there's quite a lot of challenges around keeping the environment right in terms of the heating, air conditioning and humidity.
00:15 And that's sort of on two fronts. One, we want it to be a great environment for people to come into, so it's comfortable for visitors.
00:21 So, you know, just spending time in here, it's a good place to be. But also, we're looking after a lot of objects.
00:30 South Shields Museum and Art Gallery dates back to 1860 and is a well-known local attraction in South Tyneside.
00:36 Recently, significant steps have been taken by the museum to become more environmentally sustainable through the installation of several energy-saving measures,
00:44 including new energy panels, air-source heat pumps and LED lighting.
00:48 The changes come as part of a broader initiative by the Tyne and Weir Archive and Museums to reinforce their commitment to the environment and to reducing carbon emissions.
00:56 Part of the changes that we've put into place are to have a set of solar panels on the roof, get a lot of sunshine here in South Shields.
01:05 So that helps us generate energy to support the running of the museum.
01:10 And we thought it'd be a really nice touch to have a panel that people could see downstairs and see sort of in live time, if you like.
01:18 The changes to the museum building are set to be carried out through a funding grant of £540,000 from Arts Council England by the Museum Estate and Development Fund.
01:28 South Shields Museum and Art Gallery is one of over 70 organisations across England to be granted this funding, the aim of which is to promote economic and social recovery following COVID-19.
01:39 South Tyneside Council that owns this building has also put money into the pot for these changes that have happened, as has Tyne and Weir Archives and Museums.
01:48 So we've supported this big change as well. Obviously it's cost a lot to do, but it's going to really secure this building and make it much more sustainable for many, many years to come.