Funding appeal relaunched to save Pavilion dome

Brighton and Hove Museums says an extra £50,000 is needed to fix the dome

A charity has relaunched a fundraising appeal to save one of the domes at Brighton's famous Royal Pavilion in time for Christmas.

An urgent appeal was put out in August to raise money to repair the dome that was at "immediate risk of collapse", and £30,000 was collected, Brighton and Hove Museums said.

Now the charity has to raise an additional £50,000 after finding that the rotten wood was worse than originally thought.

Hedley Swain, CEO of the the Royal Pavilion and Museums Trust, said: "It's been here for 200 years, we need it to be here for the next 200 years and looking brilliant for the next 200 years."

A fundraising appeal was first launched in August

The CEO says "time is of the essence" to carry out the repairs.

In August, Mr Swain said he was "stunned" by the response to the original appeal as £27,500 was raised in three days - surpassing its target of £17,500.

Jo Hatwell, historic buildings manager at Brighton and Hove Museums, said: "Although we knew there were certain areas of the render that were weaker that we were monitoring, we were alarmed at just how significant the damage was and the extent of the damage on the wood."

He said the deterioration of the roof was "devastating".

"We have to galvanise quickly, but our budgets are currently stretched with the vital work we are carrying out on the Brighton Museum and Gallery roof restoration, so we are appealing for extra assistance to help us fix this small but important dome.”