Jewish Museum London: 'Celebrate and educate - challenging antisemitism and stereotypes' with ambitious plans

The Jewish Museum London has been awarded almost a quarter of a million pounds to continue its outreach and educational work as it looks for a new permanent home.

A £231,000 grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund will support a new model for the museum to run its Jewish Museum London On The Move project to London schools and the wider community while it relocates.

The "museum without walls" sold its former site in Camden in July to develop plans for a new venue but has continued with in-person and online projects, including an online Hanukkah broadcast and loaning its Jewish tailoring objects to the Museum of London’s Fashion City exhibition.

Chair of trustees at Jewish Museum London Nick Viner said the funding will enable a transition towards a new site as well as “expand further” the museum's education work and programme of loans and displays.

He told LondonWorld: "Using objects of ritual and historic significance, our museum-based learning approach plays a key role in helping students understand the cultures of the place they live in, challenging antisemitism and stereotypes about Jews. Jewish Museum London exists to celebrate and educate about London and the UK's diverse Jewish community. Developing our vision for a museum of the future will create opportunities for Jewish Londoners to engage with a collection that holds the history of their community, while also instigating conversations across faiths."

The 'on the move’ project will run between December 2023 and March 2025 and will include workshops in London schools and Jewish care homes, events for families and virtual broadcasts about Jewish festivals.

Acting director Sue Shave said: “This grant will have a huge impact on the development of our future plans and will increase our impact on a much wider audience engaging with heritage in the UK.”

She predicted that the grant could see visitor engagement rise from 28,000 per year at the former museum in Camden to a potential 155,000 a year, including schools and community groups. The grant is part of the National Lottery Heritage Fund’s plans to invest £3.6billion into cultural and environmental projects in the UK over the next ten years.

Stuart McLeod, director of England (London and South) at the National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “We are delighted to support Jewish Museum London with their next steps in realising their future vision. This project will help the organisation ensure their collections remain accessible even during a period of transition, thanks to money raised by National Lottery players.”

The Jewish Museum London, founded in 1932, was originally located in Bloomsbury. Now more than 90 years old, the museum explores British Jewish heritage and identity through themes of migration, family, faith and culture.

More information can be found on the Jewish Museum London website.