Farron steps up campaign to save Armitt Museum

12.00.00am GMT Tue 2nd Mar 2010

South Lakeland MP Tim Farron who has been working alongside the Westmorland Gazette's campaign to save the Armitt Museum in Ambleside has today called on the Government and local authorities to work together to provide the £10,000 needed by the middle of this month to keep the museum open.

The museum is home to a wide ranging collection which includes works by Kurt Schwitters and Beatrix Potter, many Roman artefacts, and more than 25,000 photographs, including images by J W Brunskill and Herbert Bell. The charitable trust has been dogged by financial problems for many years and has confirmed that unless additional funding could be found that the museum would be forced to close permanently

Mr Farron has tabled an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons calling upon local authorities in Cumbria, the Arts Council and the Department of Culture Media and Sport to provide funding to help keep the museum open to the public.

Commenting Mr Farron said:

"If the Armitt Museum were to close, it would represent a massive blow to the local community and would instantly take away one of South Lakeland's most iconic cultural attractions. Keeping the collection together and keeping it here is an absolute must.

"It would be incredibly sad to see such a great collection of books, artefacts and photographs broken up and taken away of South Lakeland.

"Ten thousand pounds really is a drop in the ocean for the Government. I'm hopefully that the Department of Culture Media and Sport, the Arts Council and local authorities in Cumbria will provide the funding needed to save the Armitt museum."