RAF Museum sites secure £25m HLF funding and get Royal Charter

The Royal Air Force Museum Midlands has secured £5m of National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) investment towards its £22.1m Inspiring Everyone project, which will deliver a major regional engagement programme alongside a transformation of the RAF Museum Midlands site.

As part of the project, RAF Museum Midlands will add an immersive exhibition exploring today’s RAF, a new Learning Centre providing bespoke facilities and a purpose-built Collections Hub.

The hub will enable the Museum’s stored collection of more than 65,000 objects – currently held in storage offsite – to be shared with the public for t he first time.

Interactive displays will invite visitors to discover more about the RAF’s mission today and how the service will need to adapt in the future.

Artefacts ranging from aircraft to films will be selected with community partners and multisensory display interpretation will be developed through co-design.

By engaging audiences with wide-ranging interests and backgrounds in the development process, the museum hopes to deliver storytelling that better reflects the diverse communities across the region.

There will also be a complementary development of a woodland landscape and a new public realm, designed to encourage outdoor learning, discovery, and contemplation.

Meanwhile, the engagement programme has been designed with inclusion at its heart, with a multi-strand approach that aims to reach a wider range of visitors and ensure the museum’s offer is “relevant for everyone”.

The funding will also support the museum to achieve its commitment to carbon net zero by 2030.

RAF Museum CEO, Maggie Appleton said: "I’d like to thank NLHF on behalf of all our staff, volunteers and trustees for the generous support they have given us – we could not be happier!

"We’re one step closer to our ambitious plans becoming a reality, made possible thanks to National Lottery players.

“Over the coming months, we will continue to work closely with our local communities to develop the project, ensuring we deliver spaces that will make a vital and positive change to people’s lives across the Midlands and beyond.”

The RAF Museum Midlands funding decision comes just days after the RAF Museum – which operates the Midlands site, as well as a museum in London – was granted the Royal Charter.

The charter was granted to the museum in recognition of its objectives to educate and inform the public and members of the RAF about the history and traditions of the RAF.