Winning a prestigious grant will help Hastings Museum and Art Gallery make better use or its archives according to the man in charge.

The museum has been given a National Archives scoping grant, one of four grants announced this month and Damian Etheraads, Museum and Cultural Development Manager, says: “It will enable us to better understand our extensive archives of local books and directories, maps, newspaper cuttings, photographs and local interest journals and magazines so that we can make better use of these collections in the future.”

The grant will be used to appoint a specialist to produce a report on the collections held by the museum.

The focus will be on transforming access to archives for a wide range of users. Archives Revealed is a partnership programme between The National Archives and The Pilgrim Trust, and is the only funding stream in the UK dedicated to logging and unlocking archives.

The recipients of this funding are Hastings Museum & Art Gallery, Charlton Athletic Museum, the Centre for Human Ecology, and Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council. The scoping grants awarded to these organisations are to appoint a specialist tailored reports that incorporate expert advice on a range of areas relating to collections management and development.

In particular, these assessments provide an overview of the current status of their collections, analyses of their overall condition, significance, existing and potential use, levels of access, and existing documentation, as well as recommendations about the next steps to achieve the development goals for the service.

Councillor Paul Barnett, deputy leader of Hastings Borough Council and lead councillor for Regeneration, said: “It’s brilliant to see Hastings Museum and Art Gallery has been chosen for this grant.

“The archives are really important to the brilliant work our museum does, and also to help us all better understand the history of our wonderful town. I am delighted that this grant will mean our archives become far more accessible”