Kickstarter fund aims to bring Lara Croft statue home to Derby

A Kickstarter campaign has been launched to bring a life-size Lara Croft statue home to Derby, the city where the Tomb Raider franchise, and the character herself, were created 30 years ago.

The statue, part of the original Tomb Raider: The LIVE Experience in Camden, has spent recent years in storage in London after the exhibition was closed in 2023.

Now, a grassroots campaign is asking Derby people and businesses to help fund its journey home, giving the city a permanent landmark to help tell the story of its role in her creation.

The campaign is aiming to raise £30,000 and has already raised almost half that amount largely through donations from fans all over the world.

The campaign has been organised by Luke Earle, who also hosts the annual Tomb Raider Day at QUAD each October and is hoping Derby businesses and residents will also pledge money to bring Lara home to the city of her birth.

If the money is raised, the statue, which is stone-coloured and made of fibreglass, will be installed on the balcony at the Osnabruck Square end of Derby City Council’s Market Hall.

Tomb Raider was developed in 1996 by video games firm Core Design, which was based in Ashbourne Road.

It was an instant hit, thanks to its groundbreaking gameplay, visuals and the unique notion of having a female protagonist at the heart of the action.

The game went on to sell tens of millions of copies worldwide and Lara became a cultural icon, appearing on the cover of The Face magazine and countless merchandise collaborations.

The original game spawned a host of sequels, as well as Hollywood films starring Angelina Jolie.

Next year will see the release of a new game, Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis, as well as an Amazon Prime TV series, starring Sophie Turner in the lead role.

More than 400 people will visit Luke’s event this October and will make a trip to Lara Croft Way, her star in Iron Gate and Core Design’s former Ashbourne Road HQ, during their annual pilgrimage.

Now Luke is hoping the statue will be in place for them to visit by the time they arrive, as well as attracting visitors to the city all year round.

Luke said: “This year’s event is the biggest-ever and it’s already a sell-out, which shows that Tomb Raider and Lara Croft are as big as ever.

“Fans have been asking about having a statue to visit for years and with the Tomb Raider: The LIVE Experience having ended and this statue being in storage it’s too perfect an opportunity for us to miss.

“The response to the Kickstarter campaign so far has been amazing, but now we’re hoping that Derby will get behind the campaign and raise the rest of the money we need to bring Lara home.”

Although people are free to donate whatever they want, there are a number of rewards for donors who pledge specific amounts of money.

This includes afternoon tea with Judith Gibbins – one of the original voices of Lara in the Tomb Raider games – and commemorative plaques on the statue’s plinth for individuals and organisations who pledge amounts including £60, £500 and £2,500, which is the cost of being a headline sponsor.

Luke is one of the UK’s foremost collectors of Tomb Raider memorabilia and part of his collection, including two life-sized Lara Croft mannequins, is currently on show in an exhibition at Derby Museums’ Pickfords’ House Museum in Friar Gate.

Luke added: “There is huge, untapped potential in the Tomb Raider story and we have hundreds of people who come to Derby every year to explore the place where the game was made.

“Just as Nottingham has Robin Hood, Derby has Lara Croft, and it would be great to have a statue of her in the city centre to remind everyone that she was born here in the city.”

Anyone wishing to support the campaign should click here.

*Luke features in the current Innovate Magazine’s cover story, which looks back on 30 years of Lara Croft. To read it, click here.