History – Museum fundraising drive

If you have been to Warkworth Museum lately you will have seen the results of the work that has been going on there for these last few months to upgrade the fire safety of the building. Some of our volunteers have been applying finishing touches, such as painting the new safety doors. Other volunteers are renewing display areas that have had to be changed, while others are carrying on with their usual jobs, helping with the daily running of the museum and its departments, as well as ongoing projects such as our digitisation project.

In earlier articles about the museum, I have mentioned that we are self-funded. The funds coming in from entrance fees, the gift and plant shops at the museum, and occasional talks that are held at the museum. Plus, of course, the Museum Op Shop, or as it is fondly known, the MOP shop, down in Baxter Street. There are other occasional fundraisers, such as raffles or a market stall at the Kowhai Festival. Donations, too, all help with the operational overheads.

For special additional projects we have had to look at other ways of raising funds. Now we have the fire safety work almost completed, our next project is to install a small lift. This will improve access to the upstairs displays and textiles and archives departments. To help fund the lift project the museum has started a ‘give-a-little’ page.

The museum likes to offer different exhibitions. This gives an opportunity for items not normally on display to be seen. At the moment we have the Wilson’s cement works exhibition and, previous to that, we had an exhibition of locally made items. We are also currently working with Te Papa to bring two mini-tabletop exhibitions – Clever Crustaceans and Colossal Squid to the museum later this year

We look forward to seeing you at the Warkworth and Districts Museum through the year. There are some lovely walks in the Kauri Park to enjoy, also.