Culture MP steps in to back campaign to save Ambleside museum (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Culture MP steps in to back campaign to save Ambleside museum

5:19pm Thursday 4th March 2010 in

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A GOVERNMENT minister has backed The Westmorland Gazette’s campaign to save one of the area’s cultural gems from closing for good.

Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw has added his voice to the chorus of approval for the Gazette’s Save the Armitt campaign, which aims to help the Ambleside museum and library take crucial steps towards a more secure financial future.

Mr Bradshaw, who visited The Armitt after it had to close temporarily following November’s floods, said: “I know what a wonderful collection of books, photo-graphs, maps and other irre-placeable artefacts it holds.

“I’m particularly impressed by the way the Armitt and the wider community are working together to find a sustainable way forward.”

Work to repair the flood damage to the museum and library is almost complete.

However, £10,000 is still needed by March 19 to see it through the next 12 months.

If the charitable trust fails to reach its target figure by then, chairman of the trustees Peter Jackson says it will not reopen, and will shut down permanently.

Spearheading the cause with Mr Jackson to protect the Armitt’s collection of 10,000 books and 25,000 photographs – as well as recruit more much-needed volunteers – is a new fund-raising committee, which is working flat-out to put the centre on a firmer financial footing.

Together, they agree that the Armitt is “too important to let it go without a fight.”

One idea, is to relaunch the ‘Armitteers’ three-year fund-raising programme, which ran from 2005-2008.

The revamped version will be gift-aided and cost those taking part £5 a month. The target is 300 people.

Leading the committee is retired engineer Graham Kilner. He said: “Wherever you look, with hospital clos-ures, floods, and problems at the Ambleside Campus, we seem to be on the back foot.

“Other things may be out of our control, but this is not one of them. We’re digging in, and I am delighted the Gazette is with us.

“With growing awareness in the community, we will win.”

Another member of the team is local businesswoman, Sue Jackson: “We are an important tourist destination. Most of our visitors are tourists. We can’t afford to lose it.”

Retired teacher and comm-ittee member John O’Hara is equally passionate about the Armitt: “Our collections of photographs must be kept in this area.”

Among the Armitt’s cultural treasures are works by Kurt Schwitters, Beatrix Potter, John Ruskin, one of the finest collections of natural history books in the country and scores of Roman artifacts.