Bondholders urged to help museum with final push for £1m

Derby Museums is calling on fellow Marketing Derby Bondholders to help it reach its target of raising £1 million to secure its future for generations to come.

The independent charitable trust is close to achieving its £1 million Endowment challenge target – and is now calling on business and the public to support its final push towards its goal.

Derby Museums operates three museums in Derby – Derby Museum and Art Gallery, Pickford’s House and the Museum of Making at Derby Silk Mill.

As a charitable trust, it relies on funding and grants from organisations, as well as donations from businesses and the public to ensure its museums remain free for all visitors.

In 2017, Derby Museums was one of 15 heritage organisations across the UK to be awarded a Heritage Endowment Grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Since that time, this grant has enabled every pound donated to Derby Museums’ Endowment to be doubled up to a maximum of £1 million.

The Endowment is invested for perpetuity and the income from the investment provides the organisation with a long-term, sustainable annual income.

The race is now on for Derby Museums to reach its £1 million Endowment target by the end of September and, with just £44,000 left to raise, the organisation is appealing for support.

A recent pledge from a generous supporter means that, until the end of the campaign period, donations towards the last £44,000 will be doubled again.

Tony Butler, executive director at Derby Museums, said: “In this last push for our Endowment campaign, we are appealing to local businesses and individuals to help us make the most of this exceptional time-limited offer where any donation received will go four times as far.

“Against the backdrop of the cost-of-living crisis and the city’s post-pandemic recovery, the importance of supporting free-to-enter cultural organisations like Derby Museums is perhaps more important now than ever.

“By supporting our appeal, you will be supporting culture, education and wellbeing in our city and helping to ensure that future generations can reap the benefit of the museums’ collections and the huge range of activities and events they inspire.

“Donating to our Endowment Fund will help us to secure the future of Derby’s heritage for everyone.”

As a thank you for donations of £500 or more, Derby Museums is offering the opportunity for donors to feature on its Giving Wall display, based at the Museum and Art Gallery on The Strand.

This exhibition space celebrates and thanks philanthropists of the past, alongside those of today.

To find out more about the Endowment and make a donation, please click here.