Halesworth and District Museum is back and re-opening on a high note. Victor Gray tells us more.
For our first steps back to normality we are re-opening for two mornings a week (Tues. and Friday, 10.00 to 12.30) and have been pleased to find a good take-up from visitors and residents alike who, far from being deterred, have been reassured by our full set of Covid-preventive measures.
Meanwhile, our spirits (and our coffers) have been lifted by the receipt of a very generous donation of just over £2000 from the Ipswich Building Society’s Mutual Advantage Account. Each branch of the Society has an annual adopted charity, chosen to be the beneficiary of this account, which is open to any member who might wish to see a portion of the overall fund-holding donated to a local charity considered as doing vital work in the community.
Halesworth Museum presented with chequeThe donation will be placed into the Museum’s reserve fund and will be used (soon, we hope) to help pay for the return to Halesworth of a spectacular local treasure, currently in the British Museum (more of this later).
Meanwhile, another important acquisition has been secured by means of crowd-funding – our first venture into this field. A recently discovered hoard of some 60 silver Roman denarii from the nearby village of Cookley will now be coming to the Museum. With grants already secured from the V&A Purchase Grant Fund and the Headley Trust, we were £850 short of the acquisition price. A crowd-funding appeal was launched and we were delighted to receive that sum in less than two weeks. Thank you to all who contributed.