West Wight Heritage Centre Appealing For Funding Help With Closure Looming

Freshwater's West Wight Heritage Centre will reportedly close its doors this month.

Its primary objective was to improve access and visibility to the collection of pictures and documents collated and catalogued by the dedication and commitment of the Freshwater and Totland Archive Group over the past decade.

It has proved to be a centre of interest, confirmed by the recent success of newly launched book “Totland Reflections”.

A spokesperson for the centre said:

"For the past few years, Freshwater Parish Council has been our main supporter through the difficult times of Covid and the various price increases, and we have relied on grants, book sales, car boot sales and other events to top up the funds.

"In order to sign up for the new lease we need to have to have at least a year’s costs in reserve.

"Efforts have been made to obtain various grants and funds, but they will not be available within the timescale.

"Given this uncertainty, it is difficult to see how can move forward without further funding to secure our future."

A fundraiser has now been created to try and raise £7,000 to keep the centre afloat.

If successful, future plans for the centre include:

• Protecting and making information more available by digitising it.
• Online presence increasing the number of supporters/subscribers
• Attracting more volunteers to help with the modernisation
• Providing a focal point for the numbers of small archives and collections in the West Wight Area

The centre is now looking at relocation opportunities in Freshwater or Totland with the aim of protecting the archive.

For information on how you can help, contact the centre on 07986 550017.