£560,000 golden touch towards saving hoard

With 13 weeks to raise the £3.3 million needed to secure the Staffordshire Hoard for the Midlands a briefing note from Birmingham City Council's Cabinet Member for Leisure, Sport and Culture to the Leisure, Sport and Culture Overview & Scrutiny Committee on 10 February 2010 shows £560,000 has been raised so far with a further £130 - 150,000 pledged from various charitable trusts.


Image reproduced from Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Flickr gallery "The Staffordshire Hoard", http://www.flickr.com/photos/finds/3920443764/in/set-72157622378376316/

The Art Fund, the UK's leading independent Art Charity, is spearheading the fundraising campaign to keep it in the Midlands with a launch on 13 January 2010 fronted by Dr David Starkey attracting national media coverage. The campaign has gained the support of the leaders of the three main UK political parties, Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg together with celebrities Michael Palin, Tony Robinson, Judi Dench and Bill Wyman.

The media attention during the display of the items in September 2009 saw 340 items on radio, TV, online and in the press with every major broadcaster in America, Canada and Australia covering the story. There were broadcasts from Birmingham by Fox, CBS, NBC, CNN, Canada TV, Discovery Channel and ABC Radio in Australia together with live interviews wit the Vatican News agency and filming within the museum from Canada TV and ‘New Tang Dynasty Television’ China.

The Art Fund fundraising launch in January included an initial grant of £300,000 from their own resources and announcements of initial contribitions from Birmingham and Stoke on Trent City Council's of £100,000 each.

Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery together with the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery in Stoke-on-Trent are seeking to raise £3.3 million to acquire the hoard and also raise a further £1.7 million for conservation work and to allow more research to take place as well as displaying items in Birmingham and Stoke on Trent and allowing for the loan of items to Tamworth Castle and Lichfield Cathedral

A selection of items from the Hoard will go on display again with items on display at the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery in Stoke-on-Trent from 13 February to 7 March 2010 and a display of a selection of the artefacts at BMAG from mid March 2010 (although dates are to be confirmed).

The display at BMAG in September 2009 which ran upto October 13th 2009 saw 39,605 people visit with the Museum and Art Gallery attracting three times it's usual visitor numbers with 64,775 visitors during this period


The British Museum has produced a guide to the Staffordshire Hoard with a £1 from the £4.99 price going towards the fundraising appeal.



Donations can be made at the Art Fund website: https://www.artfund.org/staffordshire_hoard/donate

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