Peter Pan house forced to close its doors

The literature centre at Moat Brae opened in 2019

A national centre for children's literature in Dumfries is to close its doors.

The site at Moat Brae opened in 2019 in the building which helped inspire author JM Barrie to write Peter Pan.

A statement confirmed that "with great regret" it would shut to the public on 23 August.

The Peter Pan Moat Brae Trust (PPMBT) said it had been losing money for an "extended period" which meant the centre had to close.

A statement from trustees said they were making the announcement "with a heavy heart".

The PPMBT said it had seen a marked reduction in statutory funding, grant funding, donor income and legacies.

In addition it said there had also been a "significant drop in footfall" despite the efforts of staff, volunteers and the local community.

The trust said costs of running the centre had also taken a "significant leap".

The site was at risk of demolition before it was saved and reopened as a literature centre

Graham Edwards, who is chairing the board on an interim basis, said: "Every possible effort and option have been explored by the trustees and staff of the PPMBT.

"Therefore, it is with deep sadness that we announce the end of operations.

"We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to the staff, volunteers, members and many supporters of the trust for their commitment in bringing the magic of books and storytelling to life for the thousands of visitors who passed through the doors.

"The trust’s purpose was to spark young imaginations and encourage creativity, we hope this is the legacy we leave behind."

Joanna Lumley is a patron of the Peter Pan Moat Brae Trust

I first looked round Moat Brae House on a winter’s day in 2009.

The former nursing home had just been saved from demolition by the local community, who planned to revive it as a centre devoted to JM Barrie and his most famous creation Peter Pan.

Barrie lived in Dumfries in the 1870s and often visited the house and the Gordon family who lived there.

Even in a semi-derelict state, it was easy to see a glimpse of the "enchanted" place which inspired Barrie's most famous character Peter Pan, not least in the long shadow cast by the winter sun.

Ten years later, I walked round the house again with patron Joanna Lumley.

The building was overhauled and turned into a literature centre

By then it had been transformed into a visitor centre which presented both the domestic setting which Barrie had known and the Never Never Land which twinkled on the edge of it all.

Full of books, and stories, and little corners to curl up and read in, it was the kind of place any child would love and any grown-up would wish they had discovered in childhood.

The centre had just a year to find its feet before Covid shut everything down. Like many organisations, they have never truly recovered.

A fall in visitor numbers and public funding, competition for sponsorship, and the cost of living crisis have all taken their toll.

It's a situation in which many organisations will find themselves in coming months.

Creative Scotland must make funding decisions about 200 arts organisations in just two months' time without knowing what money is available to them.

For Moat Brae, even that wait is too long as they will close their doors on 23 August.