The Bowes Museum in County Durham hopes to serve as a launchpad for the next generation of museum industry workers after winning a major funding grant for graduate training.

The fine arts museum has been awarded £454,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) under its Skills for the Future programme, which will go towards training the industry’s next generation and help to fill key skills gaps in the sector.

The award will fund the Conservation in Action project, which aims to utilise the museum’s valuable collections and experienced conservation team to offer a number of twelve-month paid internships over a five-year period, beginning this summer.

Graduates will have the opportunity to learn on the job, bridging the gap between academic training and meaningful practical skills.

The project will cover aspects such as surveying, preventative conservation, staging of temporary exhibitions, supervision of volunteers and interaction with other museums; fostering independence, confidence and decision making.

Graduates will cut their teeth working on the museum’s extensive collection, which span the 14th to the 20th centuries and include paintings, ceramics, textiles and furniture.

“This project will assist the museum by allowing us to use our collections more extensively and further develop our recent progress in conservation,” said Jon Old, conservation manager at The Bowes Museum.

“It will also offer one of the best opportunities available for conservation graduates to gain hands-on experience of working in a museum environment while gaining key skills in their sector.”