A £4m (US$5.3m, €4.5m) fund has been launched to improve the quality of displays, enhance exhibition spaces and increase access to museums and galleries in the UK.

The DCMS (the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)/Wolfson Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund will be open to institutions across England, with grants of up to £300,000 (US$401,000, €341,000) available from spring 2018.

“This is a wonderful example of how government and philanthropic organisations can work together to benefit our diverse museum sector, said John Glen, Britain’s minister for Arts, Heritage and Tourism.

“These grants are an important boost to the sector, improving the visitor experience and making our world-leading collections open to as many people as possible.”

This will be the 11th round of funding since the partnership between the two parties was created in 2001. Since then, the fund has supported 343 renovations and improvement projects at a total 107 museum groups and galleries.

“The range and quality of collections in our museums and galleries are one of the great cultural assets of this country,” said Paul Ramsbottom, chief executive of the Wolfson Foundation.

“The aim of the fund is to create even better visitor experiences for those viewing these wonderful collections. These are projects that are often difficult to fund from other sources, and we're delighted to be continuing our investment.”