COMMUNITY groups have a chance to tell their own stories in the refurbished Museum of Oxford, thanks to a new Lottery grant.

The museum has been awarded a £43,600 from the Heritage Lottery Fund as it prepares to close for a five-month revamp.

The cash will be spent on hiring an interpretation planner to work with Oxford groups on creating displays within new galleries when they open in spring 2012.

It will also be used for display boards and a new guide booklet to the Town Hall and the museum.

The award comes on the back of another £48,628 from Wren, the organisation which distributes landfill tax credits to good causes.

City council leader Bob Price said: “We are delighted the Heritage Lottery Fund has recognised the work we’re doing to promote the Museum of Oxford and the Town Hall and make them more appealing to a wider audience.”

The St Aldate’s museum, which tells the story of Oxford and its people, will close on Saturday, October 29.

Mr Price said: “The museum has changed very little since it was opened in 1975 and has a really unique charm about it – it’s well worth a final visit.”

The new Town Hall Galleries will be based around two large rooms on the ground floor of the Town Hall, and the entrance to the museum will be relocated from the corner of Blue Boar Street to the Town Hall lobby.

Tony Joyce, Oxford Civic Society vice-chairman, said: “This is very much the first phase of what we hope to do at the museum later.

“There is going to be more emphasis on encouraging the local community to take more interest in the museum and to come in and see the displays that have been produced.

“It will certainly feel different from the old museum, and we hope the presentation of what we shall be able to exhibit in the first phase will be particularly exciting and interesting.”

The museum is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10am until 5pm.