Reopening statement

After three months of furlough, we are delighted to welcome back to work our Collections Manager, Kelda Roe.

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Following funding cuts linked to covid-19 (see here for full details), we made the decision to furlough our single member of staff and pause the work of our freelance Administrator at the start of May. Over the summer the Trustees have been very busy, particularly our Fundraising Trustee, Liz Sutton, and Treasurer, Clare Meehan, who have successfully bid to the National Lottery Heritage Fund for emergency funds to cover our basic costs until the end of October.

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Over the next few months we have asked Kelda to work with the Trustees on fundraising and forward planning. Kelda will now be answering emails but, due to the ongoing pandemic, she will largely be home working so there will be a few changes to our normal operations:

·       We are operating to the 2 metre rule for social distancing in the office; we are therefore not admitting researchers at the moment. We will review this on a regular basis and make an announcement as soon as we are confident that it is safe to welcome researchers back.

 ·       We are offering a limited remote enquiry service. As our Collections Manager is concentrating on fundraising and is still largely home working, there may be a delay in responding to your enquiry, particularly if it requires access to the collections.

·       If you have potential items to add to the collections please get in touch with us and our Collections Manager will consult with the Trustees in order to determine the acquisitions.

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Rest assured that the safety of the collections in our care is still our key priority – we made regular checks on the collections over the summer and will continue to do so.

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Finally, we would like to say a huge thank you to National Lottery players and everyone who made donations via our Just Giving page over the summer, your support is invaluable in helping us to preserve and share Britain’s incredible mountain and climbing heritage.

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