Dippy on tour programme supported by Lottery Heritage Fund

Dippy’s visit to Rochdale had a major boost last week when The National Lottery Heritage Fund announced a grant of £159,000 towards the ambitious programme of activities and events in the borough aimed at inspiring the next generation of scientists and connecting people with nature and the natural world.

Dippy, the Natural History Museum London’s famous Diplodocus cast, left the museum in 2018 for the first time to go on a natural history adventure across the UK.

In 2015 it was announced that Rochdale had been chosen as one of just eight locations, and the only one in the North West, to host him on his historic journey. The iconic exhibit will take pride of place in Number One Riverside, from 10 February to 28 June 2020.

• www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/106274/dippy-the-dinosaur-is-coming-to-rochdale

Thanks to National Lottery players, the grant will fund a major exhibition at Touchstones Rochdale, Dippy’s partner venue in the North West, which will be the largest ever exhibition in the museum’s history.

It will be full of hands on activities focussed around dinosaurs and the natural world. As well as giving visitors the opportunity to discover more about Dippy, dinosaurs and the world they live in, the exhibition will be stepping further back in time to look at what life was like in Rochdale 150 million years before the dinosaurs roamed the earth, in the carboniferous period.

The funding will also support a region-wide education and schools programme, community projects including creation of bog gardens, family holiday activities and an interactive heritage trail for visitors.

Dippy on Tour is brought to you by the Natural History Museum in partnership with the Garfield Weston Foundation, and supported by Dell EMC and Williams and Hill.

Darren Grice, Deputy CEO at Link4Life, responsible for Touchstones, said “We’re delighted that the National Lottery Heritage Fund bid for £159,000 to support the Dippy on Tour programme has been successful. The funding will enable Link4Life and our partners at Rochdale Borough Council to deliver a really high quality and exciting programme of activities, exhibitions and events during Dippy’s stay here in Rochdale.

“Feedback has been extremely positive from other areas of the UK which have been part of Dippy on Tour and we’re really looking forward to him arriving in Rochdale.”

Councillor Janet Emsley, cabinet member for neighbourhoods, community and culture at Rochdale Borough Council, said: “We’re incredibly proud to have been selected as one of just eight venues across the UK to host this internationally famous exhibit and we intend to make the most of this once in a lifetime opportunity by putting on a huge number of exciting activities to build a Dippy buzz across the whole of the North West.

“This funding will allow us to turn something exciting into something truly unforgettable, which will touch thousands of people across the borough and beyond. We are also in advanced talks with major sponsors who are really excited about getting involved with Dippy in Rochdale.”

David Renwick, Area Director for the North, National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “Thanks to National Lottery players this grant will see the North West play host to the Natural History Museum’s most famous dinosaur.

“Together, with the other awards totalling £10m, including a dazzling new museum of UK entertainment for Blackpool and an iconic cinema building turned world-class entertainment venue in Bradford, this funding gives a clear message of how heritage-led regeneration can play a key part in the future of the North and supporting the Northern Powerhouse.

“We cannot wait to see these projects in action.”