Support your town's museum through new group and help collection to tick along
A new supporters’ group for Newcastle-under-Lyme’s museum officially launches this Friday (18 July) – and potential members are being urged to get in touch.
The event at Brampton Museum at 2.30pm will be hosted by Newcastle-under-Lyme’s Mayor Robert Bettley-Smith with performances from Stoke-on-Trent Poet Laureate Nick Degg. It will kickstart a fundraising campaign to “Keep our Clocks Ticking” and help to restore the museum’s historic 11 long case clocks.
This initiative follows the museum winning a National Lottery Heritage Fund £99,000 grant. The two-year grant will help to establish the supporters’ group as a successor to the popular Friends of the Museum and widen the reach to local community organisations for future events.
Membership of the supporters’ group is an annual superscription of just £25, with discounted rates for people under 25. Some of the perks of membership include free tickets to some of the museum’s popular talks and film shows and invitations to exclusive up-close events that are just for museum supporters.
Every donation will be matched by the Heritage Fund, so a donation of £25 becomes a gift of £50 to transform Newcastle’s heritage. Donations from the first two years of the campaign will help keep the museum’s collection of locally made clocks ticking.
Brampton Museum houses 11 long case clocks and mechanisms, made between 1680 and 1870 when Newcastle-under-Lyme was a major clock-making town thanks to prominent figures including the Beech, Brindley, Nickisson and Redshaw families. Funding will enable a detailed condition survey by an experienced horologist to identify the repair work needed. It’s hoped to have some of the clocks in full working order by the end of the project in 2027.
Cllr. Craig Skelding, Cabinet member for Leisure, Culture and Heritage, said:
It’s exciting to be able to launch our new museum supporters’ group this week which will utilise the real enthusiasm and interest in the local community and help to invigorate museum operations.
We are pleased to use the grant to further our work with the local community and lever in additional funding which will benefit future exhibitions. This will also begin the process of restoring the museum’s collection of historic clocks which bring to life Newcastle-under-Lyme’s clock-making heritage.”
The new group is open to all and people can sign up via the museum website, over the phone 01782 619705 or in person at Brampton Museum.