Thanks for visiting my page.

Cultural and artistic institutions are closed and in crisis, particularly those that rely on admissions and events income without the benefit of significant government support.

I am a Trustee at the Design Museum, located on High Street Kensington. When open, it generates 98% of its own income.

The Museum has been closed since March, and has more than 50% of its staff furloughed. It nevertheless has significant cash outflows to maintain the building and employ key staff working on its learning and digital programmes as well as  core staff. We hope to reopen soon but operating under social distancing and with uncertain visitor appetite means that funds are needed not only to cover our period of closure but also the twilight zone prior to normality returning.

The Design Museum is the only Museum in England solely dedicated to contemporary design and its impact. It won the European Museum of the Year In 2018 and has established itself as an integral part of the UK Design sector, which is itself world leading. It runs a thriving learning programme for all ages; it reached over 16,000 students from 300 state schools in 2019 and has a partnership with Kingston University delivering a Curating Contemporary Design MA.

The North Downs Way is a historic 131 mile trail across southern England and is particularly hilly. It coincides with the Pilgrims Way and takes in Box Hill, the historic Kent poets of Rochester and Chatham, the site of the martyrdom of Thomas a Becket and, of course, the White Cliffs of Dover, although I doubt I’ll be in any position at all to appreciate them.

Please sponsor me and help this worthwhile Museum get through this crisis.

Thank you.

Mike