The Jewish Museum London is planning a phased reopening with support from the government’s coronavirus arts rescue fund. 

Shut for nearly seven months, the museum is to receive more than £249,000 from the government’s £1.57 billion cultural recovery fund to help it weather the effects of the pandemic.

The museum in Camden Town, which has hosted various virtual events since the start of the lockdown, said the fund will support its partial reopening. 

The museum said it will reopen its doors this month to pre-booked private and group visits under a programme called “The Museum to Myself.”

Those to be given priority access will include private visitors, schools, researchers and community groups, and the museum expects the phase to last until spring or summer next year.

“Thanks to this new funding, we can now move to our first stage of reopening,” said Nick Viner, chair of the Jewish Museum London. 

“We will welcome priority groups back into the museum, focusing initially on education, both for young people and academics, and on those working with the community. 

“This funding, benefitting the museum and our wider community, will ensure that access to our unique collection and expert staff can both continue and develop.”

The museum’s interim director Frances Jeens, said the Museum to Myself programme will give visitors “an extraordinarily personal experience.”

The cultural recovery fund, administered by Arts Council England, will be allocated to more than 1,300 arts organisations and venues across England. 

Culture secretary Oliver Dowden said the fund “is proof this government is here for culture” and said “further support” will follow in the weeks ahead.