Lottery Windfall for Windmill
Lottery Windfall for Windmill
The Wimbledon Windmill Museum has received National Lottery heritage funding to secure the future of the museum impacted by Covid-19 pandemic
The Wimbledon Windmill Museum has received £3,400 from The National Lottery Heritage to help cover essential running costs while it is unfortunately unable to open to the public. Since the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown began the Wimbledon Windmill Museum has been not been able to open to the public, so there has been no income to cover the ongoing fixed costs associated with a building over 200 years old.
Asif Malik, Chairman of the Trustees said: “Thanks to the National Lottery and its players we can now ensure that the Windmill buildings, including the priceless Museum exhibits, are kept safe and in good shape ready to welcome visitors back as soon as conditions permit.”
“We’re grateful that The National Lottery Heritage Fund is supporting us at this crucial time – “it’s a lifeline to us and others who are passionate about sustaining heritage for the benefit of all.”
The funding, made possible by National Lottery players, was awarded through The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Heritage Emergency Fund. £50 million has been made available to provide emergency funding for those most in need across the heritage sector.
The UK-wide fund will address both immediate emergency actions and help organisations to start thinking about recovery.
Ros Kerslake, Chief Executive of The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “Heritage has an essential role to play in making communities better places to live, supporting economic regeneration and benefiting our personal wellbeing. All of these things are going to be even more important as we emerge from this current crisis.
“Thanks to money raised by National Lottery players we are pleased to be able to lend our support to organisations such as the Wimbledon Windmill Museum during this uncertain time.”
Like the Wimbledon Windmill Museum, other charities and organisations across the UK that have been affected by the unprecedented impact of the corona-virus outbreak are being given access to a comprehensive package of support of up to £600 million of repurposed money from The National Lottery. This money is supporting some of the most vulnerable people in our communities and span the arts, community, charity, heritage, education, environment and sports sectors.
UPDATE: 18th June 2020
Asif Malik, Chair of Wimbledon Windmill Museum gives an update on the Wimbledon Windmill appeal launched to save its future
For the 2020 season, the Wimbledon Windmill Museum planned to open its doors to the public at the end of March. Unfortunately, the plans had to be set aside when Covid-19 struck. The museum was not opened and remains closed. This presented the museum trustees with a challenge – how to meet our fixed and running costs – utilities, insurances etc, when we had lost all our income. The museum relies entirely on income from visitor donations, fees for conducted tours and shop sales. With the museum closed, no visitors meant no income.
To meet the challenge, the trustees launched a fund-raising campaign to allow the museum to carry on until the time it could re-open and start generating income again. An application was made to the Heritage Emergency Fund for a grant – this was successful. A crowd-funding initiative was started, publicised by social media, neighbourhood community website and by word of mouth. The response was overwhelming. The appeal on the crowd-funding platform brought in scores of donations. Our target was reached in 4 days, when the appeal was closed. It is immensely gratifying to see how much the iconic windmill is cherished by the Windmill community.
The museum is now in the fortunate position to carry on for the rest of 2020, secure in the knowledge that its fixed and running costs can be met. All being well, we will throw open our doors in March 2021.
UPDATE: 02.06.20
Wimbledon Windmill appeal: iconic landmark faces permanent closure if the charity fails to raise funds for this cherished and long-time community asset
Wimbledon Windmill Museum is closed due to Covid-19 and may not be able to open safely at all in 2020. The iconic local landmark on Wimbledon Common is a charity, run entirely by a team of dedicated volunteers. The Windmill Museum is launching an appeal to raise £5,000 to meet the essential running expenses until March 2021, when they reasonably hope to re-open.
The charity’s only income is from museum visitors, donations, conducted tours and shop sales. So with limited reserves, the museum now faces the real risk of permanent closure if the volunteers fail to raise additional funds for this cherished and long-time community asset.
Save the Museum!
Please donate to the Wimbledon Windmill appeal
Visit Wimbledon Windmill Museum website
Wimbledon Windmill Museum
Windmill Road, Wimbledon Common , London SW19 5NR
Read more about Wimbledon Common in our Wimbledon guide
