Brian Cox backs Glencoe museum's restoration drive

Nearly £3m has already been secured for the museum's restoration

Actor Brian Cox has backed a campaign to help the restoration of a Highland museum.

Glencoe Folk Museum - home to 6,000 artefacts - has already secured £2.8m from funders and supporters.

Restoration work is set to go ahead, but a funding gap remains, and a bid has been launched to raise a further £100,000.

Planning permission and listed building consent have been secured but the project has been affected by rising construction costs, inflation and delays.

The funding needs to be raised in the next six months for the essential restoration work to be completed so it can reopen in 2026.

The museum, inside two heather-thatched cottages, was set up more than 50 years ago by local women who stood in front of bulldozers to save the cottages from demolition.

Its collection includes Jacobite relics and memorabilia from the two world wars.

The revamp includes an extension which will have a climate-controlled exhibition gallery, as well as a gift shop and the museum's first toilets.

'Community and pride'

Cox, known for his recent role in Succession, said: "Glencoe Folk Museum is about more than history.

"It's about identity, community, and pride.

"We need your support to ensure this incredible story continues to be told for generations to come."

Catriona Davidson, museum curator, said the restoration work was vitally important.

"Our new exhibitions will bring Glencoe's stories to life, and improved environmental conditions will better protect our artefacts and allow us to arrange exciting loans from other museums and organisations," she said.

"Every donation, no matter the size, will contribute to the future of our museum."