Waterside Arts in Sale is to receive a top funding award from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.
The Collections Innovation and Engagement grant was awarded via the Museums Association, and will allow the much-loved Cosgrove Hall Films Archive to be digitised and accessed across the region.
Waterside, which is run by Trafford Council, is home to the internationally-acclaimed animation collection from Cosgrove Hall Films, which includes some of the best-loved children’s characters such as Danger Mouse, Count Duckula, Chorlton & the Wheelies and many more.
The much-needed funds will allow Waterside to continue conservation work within the archive and preserve and protect this important part of our cultural heritage for future generations.
These vital funds will enable elements of the collection to be digitised – particularly 3D puppets too fragile for restoration – and the archive to lead the way in developing new guidelines for animation conservation.
Crucially, digitising the archive will provide access to new audiences and community groups, both in and outside the region, who have previously been unable to visit the collection in person, when on display at Waterside.
In partnership with Creative Industries Trafford, Cosgrove Hall Films Archive will now be able to work with new community groups across Greater Manchester using the archive as inspiration for story-telling and developing new skills – from script-writing, storyboarding, and character design, to model-making, set building or animating.
Darren Adams, Manager of Waterside said: ‘The Waterside team are absolutely delighted to receive funds from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation. We look forward to continuing our hard work on developing this fantastic archive and sharing it with new audiences and different communities across the Greater Manchester region over the coming months.‘
Councillor Patel, Trafford Council’s Executive Member for Culture and Leisure, said: ‘We are extremely proud to receive this funding award for the archive. During these particularly challenging times for culture, it is so important that we are able to celebrate the breadth of our creative industry in Trafford and the wider work in animation that takes place at Waterside.’
