THE Arts Council Museum Resilience Fund has granted £228,000 to Gilbert White & The Oates Collections to “support sustainability”.

“Our Tea Parlour is famous for its cakes and this grant will enable us to build a first-class cafe as part of the renovation and conversion of our 18th Century Stable Yard,” said Dr Rosemary Irwin, chairman of trustees of Gilbert White & The Oates Collections at Selborne.

“We have been working on fundraising for our exciting new development at the museum for almost two years now, and this grant will help us to offer high-quality coffee, lunch and tea-time menus to our visitors.

“Our tea parlour has always been popular with visitors to the museum and to Selborne, and has won several awards. This grant will enable us to do even better in the future.”

Phil Gibby, Arts Council England’s south west area director, said: “This is an ambitious and exciting plan to transform the museum and make it a vibrant, sustainable business. We’re delighted to be supporting it through our Museum Resilience Fund.”