Fundraising success secures Hartlepool museum's future

The museum is on Hartlepool's historic Headland

The future of a military museum on Teesside has been secured by a fundraising drive that raised more than six times the amount it set out to.

Heugh Battery Museum Hartlepool was threatened with closure in 2019 amid financial problems.

Supporters set a fundraising target of £5,000 and ended up with £32,000.

The council said it would continue to support the museum, though not financially, to develop future plans.

A meeting of Hartlepool Borough Council Regeneration Services Committee, was told that future fundraising campaigns were planned, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

David Worthington, head of culture and information on the council, said: "That fundraising campaign has meant they are now very stable as an organisation going forward.

"They plan future campaigns to make sure they remain in a stable condition."

The museum is situated on the Headland, which has been a military position since the 17th Century.

It tells the story of the bombardment of Hartlepool, in December 1914, when the guns of the battery were engaged in ship-to-shore combat with the German navy.