We hope by now that news of the new Shoemakers Museum we are building in Street, due to open its doors in 2025 to mark the 200th anniversary of the business, has reached you.

We have raised almost £5.3million, 82% of our £6.4million total. Now we are looking to match the £463,000 generously donated by individual family members with a further £500,000 from you, the current guardians of this remarkable heritage.

With a project of this size and ambition, every donation counts. And we have reached the moment where we really need your help to get Shoemakers Museum over the line. We have enough money for the build, already underway at the Grange site in Street thanks to our architects, Purcell, and contractor Rigg Construction. But we don’t yet have the funding for the museum fit-out, for the display cases, graphics, lighting and more.

The archive safeguards our collections for the future. But it is a closed box, excluding the communities, both local and more widely, which helped create those collections. Building a museum will open out that history, to ensure its lessons and stories are widely heard, continuing to inspire.

Shoemakers is not only about shoes: leading museum interpretation experts Nissen Richards Studio have helped us to stitch together the stories of non-conformist Britain hidden in our collections, from the innovating shoe business which went global, to the Quaker work for abolition, suffrage and refuge it helped power. We use the ‘golden thread’ of the Clark family and business to illuminate the lives that lie behind those histories, from abolitionist Ida B. Wells to early machine room workers like Mary Wallis, Mary Ann Haines and Mary Marsh.

We are also preparing for life after opening, developing our audiences and fine-tuning our business plan, to ensure that Shoemakers will be a vibrant, sustainable asset. Projections show, we can expect visitor numbers of about 40,000 in the first year, attracted by our galleries, café, retail, education space and gardens, including from the 4 million people who pass our gate on their visit to Clarks Village. Income from ticket sales and our café and retail space will protect our collections, and ensure that they are open to all, to educate, inspire and entertain.

In keeping with the Quaker tradition of giving back to the community, Shoemakers will be a resource for the people of Street, particularly around education where we will partner with primary and secondary schools to inspire children with their own heritage, and with sixth form and tertiary institutions such as Strode College through partnerships in areas including business and design studies, apprenticeships, and so on.

Your generosity will help secure the future of Shoemakers Museum as a beacon of inspiration, ensuring that the legacy of our shoes, created in Street and worn by the world, and enduring values, nurtured in Street and shared globally, resonate for years to come.

Everyone at the Alfred Gillett Trust thanks you in advance for generous support.

Cato Pedder

Chair

Find out more: https://shoemakersmuseum.org.uk/