Coronavirus: 60% of galleries and museums in the UK worried about survival

New research has found that 60 percent of galleries and museums in the UK are worried they will never reopen after having to close earlier this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The UK's 2,500 museums and galleries rely on visitor income to survive and visitor figures for October were at just 25% when compared to October 2019.

The charity Art Fund carried out the research and has launched a million-pound crowdfunding appeal to help institutions adapt for the future.

Famous artists are offering signed prints as rewards to people who donate to the fund.

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Thousands of museums and galleries are struggling to reopen and 160 of Art Fund's museum partners have been unable to reopen at all since the UK's first nationwide lockdown in March.

Over the last six months the Art Fund received funding applications from more than 450 organisations amounting to more than £16.9m.

The charity has already distributed £2.25m emergency funding to help institutions cope with the pressures caused by Covid-19.

There's no emergency funding left and only 55 percent of those institutions in need have received emergency funding.

Nine out of 10 institutions say that they will need to adapt and innovate in order to survive the virus and its aftermath.

Income is significantly or severely down for 77 percent of organisations and just one third of closed museums think they will reopen in the coming months.

The study found that 61 percent of museum and gallery workers worried about losing their job.

Jenny Waldman, Art Fund director, said: "Over the last six months it's been hugely inspiring to see innovative ideas from museums to adapt and evolve, but heart-breaking that we cannot support them all. This terrible pandemic has taken museums to a make-or-break point.

"We are urging everyone who loves and uses museums to come together now, to help so many more museums thrive," she said.

Museums and galleries also have the option of applying for money from the £1.57bn Culture Recovery Fund that the government unveiled in July.