Gazette campaign to save Ambleside's Armitt Museum (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Gazette campaign to save Ambleside's Armitt Museum

5:52pm Friday 26th February 2010 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
• Comments(0)

ONE of the region’s major cultural attractions faces closure if it fails to find a financial lifeline.

Ambleside’s Armitt Museum and Library needs £10,000 by the middle of March.

If it does not reach that figure by then chairman of the trustees Peter Jackson told The Westmorland Gazette it will certainly shut.

“The tragedy of its closing is that the collection will be broken up and dispersed outside of the area,” said Mr Jackson.

“It would be a major loss to the whole Lake District, not just Ambleside. And I know other people are as upset at this prospect as I am.”

This week The Westmorland Gazette joined efforts to raise cash for the Armitt by launching Save The Museum. It urges Lake District residents and people from outside the area to give generously to the appeal fund, and encourages people to help out by volunteering at the centre.

The charitable trust has been dogged by money problems for several years and Mr Jackson said that they had decided that unless a solution to its financial problems could be found the temporary closure would become permanent.

He pointed out that the Armitt also needed more volunteers.

The present crisis follows years of dwindling grant support from organisations and failed negotiations with the University of Cumbria, regarding taking over the management of the building and curating the internationally important collection.

Armitt funds finally dried up in May 2009 and the museum closed it doors. It re-opened in August, after Friends of the Armitt Trust injected much-needed cash into the centre’s coffers.

November’s floods, though, deepened the crisis. The centre’s precious collection escaped serious damage. However, it had to close to the public in order to dry out the building and replace damaged carpets.

The Armitt collection includes works by one of the most important artist of the 20th century, German artist Kurt Schwitters, Beatrix Potter, many Roman artifacts, 10,000 books and more than 25,000 photographs, including images by J W Brunskill and Herbert Bell.

Revenue from the museum shop funds the day-to-day running of the Armitt, which is manned by a hard-working team of volunteers.

Meanwhile, Mr Jackson and the fund-raising committee was working hard behind the scenes on a plan to put the Armitt on a firmer financial footing and was looking for more volunteers to help run the centre.

He said: “Ambleside seems set to lose its college. It would be a double tragedy if the Armitt went too.”n.

To donate to the Gazette’s Armitt Appeal or become a volunteer should contact 015394-31212 or email info@armitt.com