A NEW digital publication will allow Hampshire Cultural Trust to keep its doors open online.

The trust has launched Culture on Call, a new digital publication shining a spotlight on the exhibitions, events and activities that would normally take place in its venues.

As well as caring for 2.5 million objects that show the county’s past, the charity operates 23 museums, galleries and arts centres, all of which are closed during the current lockdown.

Chief executive Paul Sapwell said: "As we all experience this new and unknown period together, we hold firm to the belief that arts and heritage are now more important than ever in uplifting our spirits. "Although we cannot maintain our normal, physical, social contact, culture offers a virtual community that we can all belong to. Culture on Call gives us the opportunity to bring arts and heritage direct to people in their homes, connecting culture and communities at this challenging time for all of us."

With videos, downloadable children’s activities, quizzes, articles and more, Culture on Call aims to entertain, engage and inform audiences across the county and beyond.

Readers will gain an insight into a small selection of the objects that the trust cares for, including a 17th century casket embroidered by a young girl living in Oliver Cromwell’s Commonwealth, as well as seeing conservation in action in a series of posts from specialist conservators.

There are online exhibitions such as Life Through the Lens which features a selection of colourised historical photographs from the Fareham area, a virtual tour of Gosport Gallery’s Open Art exhibition and the work of contemporary British artist Jake Wood-Evans, recently on display in Relic at the Gallery, Winchester Discovery Centre.

In response to the coronavirus crisis, all Hampshire Cultural Trust venues were closed on March 18 and are likely to remain closed until May 31.