THE Town Museum is appealing for Patrons to help with the regular running costs of the museum.
The museum receives no regular funding, and the £650 a week it costs just to keep the doors open far exceeds its modest income from the sale of souvenirs, fundraisers and private hire.
So in order to create a regular and reliable source of income, the museum has launched a scheme asking people to consider becoming Patrons by pledging £150, £300 or £500 a year.
The need for a secure financial future comes as the museum plans to create a new exhibition which will form a lasting legacy for the Guinea Pig Club.
The Guinea Pigs were servicemen who were burned on active duty in WWII and treated by pioneering plastic surgeon Sir Archibald McIndoe. They proudly adopted the name ‘guinea pigs’ because his innovative work in treating their burns was indeed often experimental in nature.
In November 2009, the Queen Victoria hospital gifted their McIndoe collection to the town museum, an archive which included more than 3,000 items including prosthetics, models, instruments and equipment, as well as the personal memorabilia of staff and patients. The collection tells the story of the internationally renowned hospital, tracing its transformation from modest beginnings to the acclaimed plastic surgery and burns centre it is today.
But although portions of the collection have been put on display, the Guinea Pig Club deserves more, museum curator Sarah Corn told an audience at the Felbridge hotel last night.
So the museum has developed a ‘Rebuilding Bodies and Souls’ project to create a new display area which will recreate the hospital’s operating theatre as it was in 1936 when the QVH opened on the Holtye Road.
“The vision is to recreate the operating theatre, with the original Allen & Hanbury operating table as a key feature. There will be displays of the instruments used and interpretation of how the treatment was administered – and central to the display will be the interpretation of the personal stories of the Guinea Pigs,” said Sarah.
This will cost £40,000, and up to £60,000 more will be needed to cover the cost of a part-time learning and outreach officer, materials and equipment to bring the stories to life. The museum will be applying for funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund to pay for the project, but they need funding to keep the building open.
So at a reception sponsored last night by the Felbridge Hotel, the museum launched an appeal for Patrons. “We receive no regular funding from County or District Councils, no regular funding from other bodies, and no regular funding from individuals and sponsors,” said Sarah.
“We do apply for specific project funding from local and national funders, for example for ‘Rebuilding Bodies and Souls’ – but this does not keep the lights and heating on.
“By becoming a Patron of the Museum you will help us keep the doors open – and you will enable us to tell the stories of the East Grinstead area and of the Guinea Pig Club long after the original members have gone.”
* For details go to http://www.eastgrinsteadmuseum.org.uk/patrons-scheme/
