Financial Crisis May Force Rural Life Living Museum to Close

Published on: 7 Sep, 2024
Updated on: 8 Sep, 2024

Tilford’s long-established Rural Life Living Museum says it is facing closure unless it raises £150,000 before the end of October.

It is owned and operated by the Old Kiln Museum CIO, a registered charity, and says it receives no external funding and has survived hand-to-mouth through ticket sales and donations. The rising cost of operating the museum now means that expenditure outstrips income generated through ticket sales and donations.

It is asking people to help out by making donations via its website. Click here for details.

And it is asking visitors to buy tickets to visit and take spare coins to put in a campaign milk churn in the museum shop, as well as spreading the word, especially via social media.

The museum, on Reeds Road, Tilford, is a collection of the discarded buildings, implements and objects of everyday life, collected by Madge and Henry Jackson since 1968.

The couple opened their back garden to the public in 1973. Both their children died young, and the Old Kiln Museum Charitable Trust was formed in 1984 to protect their only surviving legacy.

The museum has been created by many thousands of people who have donated objects and volunteered their time, support and skills. It has 20 buildings and a collection of 40,000 objects displayed.

In a bid to curb the effects of rising expenditure there has been a restructuring of the staff team, including redundancies.

The museum adds that events at site, such as the Weyfest music festival and Village at War, would be left without a home. And it says there would be a loss of half a million pounds to the local economy.

There is also the loss of learning support to more than 50 schools and educational groups that use the museum every year.

The purpose that brings together the community of more than 150 volunteers would also be gone, and the legacy which has created a great day out will be gone for its 41,000 visitors each year.