The funding will help the museum to create new displays at the heart of the site to tell the story of how our food is made. There is currently a school meals exhibition, which opened in March 2025.
The school meals exhibition aims to take visitors on a journey to explore the past, present and future of school food. It covers nutrition, popular culture, campaigns and Government policies.
The Food Museum’s mission is to connect people with where food comes from and the communities that grow and make it. The transformation will create a new events space with capacity for 300 people to enable the museum to grow its schools and events programme.
Over five years from autumn 2025, the project will deliver new engaging displays, bringing objects out of storage from the museum’s rich collection and collecting new items which reflect 20th and 21st-century stories and experiences.
Jenny Cousins, Museum director, said: “We are delighted to have been awarded the funding to transform the Food Museum. We want people to have a great time at the museum, learn something and reflect on their relationship with food.
“The project will not only improve the condition of historic buildings and objects, it will build on the work we have done over the last ten years to create a top-quality experience for local residents and visitors to the area alike.”