Bucks historic treasures now part of new Trust

Buckinghamshire’s treasures of the past are now in the safe hands of a new Trust
View - Bucks County Museum in Church Street, AylesburyView - Bucks County Museum in Church Street, Aylesbury
View - Bucks County Museum in Church Street, Aylesbury

For the past two years several options have been explored to enable Buckinghamshire County Museum to thrive in the current challenging financial climate.

In April 2012 Members agreed to set up The Buckinghamshire County Museum Trust, which would benefit the museum at Aylesbury and resource centre at Halton and open up new channels of grant funding and access to tax relief and Gift Aid on donations.

Today (Monday) County Council Cabinet Members agreed to transfer the County Museum’s operation to the Trust.

Six Trustees, with experience in finance, human resources, marketing, heritage, local government and the charitable sector will become the collections guardians and will be chaired by Dr Bob Sutcliffe.

Bill Chapple is the county council’s trustee and will help oversee the move which will save the council £145,000 and benefit the museum by £1,500 a week. In April this year Richard de Peyer became the new museum director.

Martin Phillips, Cabinet Member for Community Engagement, said: ‘Our team have worked hard to find the best way forward for preserving our county’s heritage. Trust status gives much more flexibility in funding this - a strong footing for the future.’

Buckinghamshire County Museum attracts 96,000 visitors and provides educational visits to 14,000 school children every year. The Resource Centre is home to the 150-year-old museum collection of 130,000 heritage objects. It works in partnership with Bucks Archaeological Society, which owns the Church Street site in Aylesbury and the museum collections pre-1957. The other key partners are the Museum Friends and Patrons.

Related topics: