Derby Museums hits £1m goal to help secure future

Derby Silk Mill is part of the Derwent Valley Mills UNESCO World Heritage Site

Derby Museums has reached a £1m fundraising target which will be doubled to £2m by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

The charitable trust started fundraising in 2017 after the lottery scheme offered to double every £1 donated, up to a maximum of £1m.

The endowment fund is aimed at providing a long-term income for the city's museums.

The trust said it would help secure the future of its museums for generations.

The Museum of Making attracted more than 96,000 visitors in its first year

Derby Museums, which was established in 1879 and formed as a charity in 2012, operates Derby Museum and Art Gallery, Pickford's House and the new Museum of Making at Derby Silk Mill, which opened in May 2021.

It became one of 15 heritage organisations across the UK to be awarded a Heritage Endowment Grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund in 2017.

The trust said the endowment would help secure the future of its museums - like the Museum of Making - for generations to come

The trust said the £2m would be invested in perpetuity, with the money made providing a long-term, annual income.

Tony Butler, executive director of Derby Museums, said: "After a decade of austerity, there has been a profound urgency for regional civic museums to raise more of their own income and to ensure reliable and steady revenues."

He said: "We'd like to thank National Lottery players across the UK for their part in contributing to the endowment, as well as our generous visitors, supporters, friends and volunteers who have made this incredible achievement possible.

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