3m pound boost for co-op heritage

CO-OPERATIVE Group Chair Bob Burlton has announced a &#163 3m endowment to help secure the future of the National Co-operative Archive and the Pioneers Museum in Rochdale.

CO-OPERATIVE Group Chair Bob Burlton has announced a &#163 3m endowment to help secure the future of the National Co-operative Archive and the Pioneers Museum in Rochdale.

Announcing the Group&#039s initiative to Congress, Mr Burlton said that the endowment? ? which will yield around &#163 150,000 per year ? was essential to enable the Heritage Trust Fund trustees to preserve the Movement&#039s cultural heritage for future generations.

The announcement was hailed as "fantastic news" by Congress President Alan Gill and as a critical step in safeguarding the collections and artefacts for the future by Co-operative College Principal Mervyn Wilson (pictured) who later told a Congress workshop that, while the Group&#039s gesture was crucial, it was vital that other societies and groups within the Movement should make their own contributions to help build up the Fund.

Mr Wilson said that the recent announcement that the Co-operative Archive had received designation status ? plus the Group&#039s pledge ? would help open doors to more much needed cash, including possible funding from the National Lottery. He said the latest boosts for the Heritage Trust Fund established at Congress last year meant that the Movement&#039s priceless archives and treasures would be safeguarded in perpetuity.

Said Mr Wilson: "Our Movement has been around for 160 years and we have survived an amazing series of challenges. But we have to make sure our unique heritage assets are safeguarded in case we are hit by any economic or political disasters.

"The Trust&#039s independent charitable status clears important impediments for funders; clarifies ownership and ensures absolutely that assets can&#039t be sold off in the future.?

"Remember, it&#039s not long since Bury Museum sold off a valuable Lowry painting to plug a hole in the council&#039s budget. But that can&#039t now happen as far as the Movement&#039s Archive is concerned."

In this article


Join the Conversation