Seven Stories Awarded DCMS/Wolfson Funding to Welcome more Children and Families Than Ever Before
Seven Stories, The National Centre for Children’s Books, has been awarded funding through the DCMS/Wolfson Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund, enabling the organisation to transform how communities will experience its headquarters in Newcastle’s Ouseburn, and to better protect a collection that sits at the heart of British cultural heritage.
“We want to ensure that everyone, everywhere can experience arts and culture in the area they call home and this fund plays a key role in making that happen.
“The DCMS/Wolfson Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund demonstrates how public funding and private philanthropy can work together to open up access to museums and galleries for those who might otherwise face barriers, and help more people enjoy the UK’s world-class collections.”
Museums Minister, Baroness Twycross
The project will make Seven Stories a more welcoming and inclusive space for all visitors with a particular focus on ensuring that families from marginalised communities, children with additional needs, and those who may have never visited a cultural venue before will feel a deeper sense of welcome and belonging in every part of the building.
“We are enormously grateful to DCMS and the Wolfson Foundation for this investment in Seven Stories and in the children and families we serve. We are based in a region with some of the lowest literacy levels in the country, and this funding allows us to go further in ensuring that every child who comes to visit sees themselves reflected in the stories we hold and the spaces we create.”
Wendy Elliott, CEO, Seven Stories
At the same time, the funding will significantly improve the care and preservation of Seven Stories’ archive – one of the most important cultural collections in the UK. The original manuscripts, sketchbooks, editorial letters and artwork held here reveal how some of Britain’s most beloved children’s books came into being. These are primary cultural artefacts: the creative evidence of authors and illustrators whose work has shaped the imaginative lives of generations. This funding will help to maintain the standard of care and environmental protection that any national collection demands.
Seven Stories is the only institution in the UK dedicated solely to collecting, preserving and celebrating this material and it is rooted in North East. The award recognises the national significance of what is held here, and our contribution to the growing understanding that this is a region with a distinctive cultural voice and a creative heritage that resonates on a deep level with a wide range of communities.
Seven Stories is proud to be able to welcome more families, and better protect the collection that exists for them, with the support of the DCMS and the Wolfson Foundation.
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You can read the full list of recipients of the DCMS/Wolfson Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund here: Latest DCMS/Wolfson funding awarded to 24 museums to champion the heritage on our doorstep – The Wolfson Foundation
Congratulations to all our friends and colleagues in the above link. We are excited to see the huge difference this funding will make across all of these well-deserving organisations.
ABOUT SEVEN STORIES
Seven Stories is the UK’s National Centre for Children’s Book and home to the only dedicated archive of original British children’s literature in the country.
Our organisation’s HQ is in a converted Victorian mill in Newcastle’s Ouseburn Valley. Seven floors of exhibitions, archives, workshops and wonder. We are a registered charity and an Arts Council accredited museum. Our archive holds original manuscripts and artwork from over 250 authors and illustrators, ensuring Britain’s important literary heritage is preserved for future generations.
Our mission is straightforward: put stories at the heart of every childhood. No exceptions. No matter your circumstance, your background, or how reading comes to you.
Entry is free. Always.
ABOUT DCMS/WOLFSON
The DCMS/Wolfson Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund provides capital funding for museums and galleries across England to improve displays, protect collections and make exhibitions more accessible to visitors. For 2025-27, DCMS and the Wolfson Foundation have each contributed £2 million to the Fund, which has benefitted more than 440 projects in its more than 20-year history.
About the Wolfson Foundation
The Wolfson Foundation is an independent grant-making charity with a focus on research and education. Its aim is to contribute to civil society by supporting high-quality projects in science, health, heritage, humanities and the arts.
Since it was established in 1955, the Wolfson Foundation has awarded over £1 billion (£2 billion in real terms) to around 14,000 projects throughout the UK, all on the basis of expert review.
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