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10 September 2024

Charitable Foundation's gift to cash-strapped Victorian Museum

A town's treasure-house Victorian museum that faces an uncertain future has announced a boost of £10,000 from the Garfield Weston Foundation to its drive towards sustainable self-funding.

Wisbech and Fenland Museum applied to the Foundation for a grant to help pay running costs as it works to find a new sustainable model to keep the lights on and staff paid while funding from other sources including local authorities dwindles.

Curator Robert Bell said: “We applied for 'breathing space: a chance to adapt and grow', and the Foundation responded. This is a generous grant towards our running costs and we've got a year to show progress towards being able to pay our way into the future.

“We welcome this show of confidence from the Foundation which only recently gave £25,000 from a separate project fund towards our new roof and renovations.

“We have a great band of volunteers without whom we couldn't keep going, and have been encouraged by the response from visitors and local families who've accepted our introduction of a £5 annual adult admission pass and have supported all our events and community outreach work over the last few years.”

Now the Museum's trustees are hoping more local individuals, companies and organisations will join the Supporters' Scheme or the new Patron's Scheme by pledging a regular amount from £5 a month upwards to keep this fantastic educational and social community resource alive and fully functioning.

On March 31st, 2023 the Museum's five-year Refounders Scheme ended. It had brought in £35,000 in pledged donations each year since 2017.

In April 2023 Wisbech Town Council paid its full annual grant of £20,000 for the last time – by agreement this will reduce each year by £2,500 down to zero.

That all adds up to a big hole to fill.

Find details on how to pledge on the Donate webpage at www.wisbechmuseum.org or ask at the reception desk of the Museum for leaflets on both schemes with a form you can present to your bank personally.