Elgin County Railway Museum (ECRM) is proud to announce that we received a $94,400 Resilient Communities Fund grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation in 2021. Over the past year, ECRM has used these funds to develop virtual educational programming and museum tours, and to upgrade and improve their online collection database. Each of these improvements will help to make the museum more accessible to community members who are unable to visit the physical location.
The virtual educational programs that have been developed include virtual tour videos of Elgin County Railway Museum, as well as educational field trip packages. The virtual tours are free for public viewing, while the field trip packages are available to purchase online through the ECRM website by schools or homeschool groups across Ontario, or by individual community members.
Paired with this is the upgrade of the online artifact collection which features improved database entries for a number of artifacts that are held within the collection, including photographs. Individuals across Ontario will now be able to access more of ECRM’s collection than what is on display in the physical facility.
“This investment by the Ontario Trillium Foundation cannot be underestimated. This grant is allowing us to invest in the museum’s future, build valuable educational content and serve our community better.” – John Shapendonk, Museum Operations Manager, Elgin County Railway Museum
Elgin County Railway Museum’s mission is to collect, preserve and interpret the railway heritage of Southwestern Ontario which will engage, educate and inspire local and global audiences. Elgin County Railway Museum seeks to fulfill this mission through a variety of offerings to the community, including: regular tours of museum exhibits, educational programming, and special events hosted in the beautiful historic facility. For more information, please visit the website or Facebook page. Follow ELGIN COUNTY RAILWAY MUSEUM.
The Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) is an agency of the Government of Ontario, and one of Canada’s leading granting foundations. Last year, nearly $112M was invested into 1,384 community projects and partnerships to build healthy and vibrant communities and strengthen the impact of Ontario’s non‐profit sector. In 2020/21, OTF supported Ontario’s economic recovery by helping non‐profit organizations rebuild and recover from the impacts of COVID‐19. Visit otf.ca to learn more.