Bondholders urged to back museum’s flood damage appeal

Marketing Derby Bondholders are being urged to back an appeal which has been launched to raise funds for Derby Museums’ Museum of Making, which was badly damaged in the recent flooding.

Last weekend, the severe weather conditions resulted in substantial flood damage to the Museum of Making, which is close to the River Derwent.

Museum bosses said while the building was designed to withstand an element of flooding, water levels were higher than predicted and the damage is “significant”.

As a result, the museum has been forced to close, with a fundraising campaign set up to support any unmet recovery costs.

Tony Butler, executive director at Derby Museums, said: “We were all devastated to wake up to the floods on Saturday morning.

“Our team worked hard to secure the Museum of Making and protect our collections, which I am pleased to say are safe and undamaged.

“We are sorry to be closed to the public in the coming days. I’d like to thank our fantastic supporters, both individuals and the local business community; as always, we have been overwhelmed by your love and appreciation for Derby Museums.”

An initial visual survey of the building by the Derby Museums team showed the ingress of approximately 50 to 70cm of flood water in the building.

Despite the team’s best efforts, there is significant damage to equipment in the kitchen and workshop, and damage to all interior ground floor doors.

Its collections appear to be undamaged – largely due to the design of the building, which sees the majority of collections housed on upper floors with the Italian Mill space containing moveable displays which allows them to be relocated as needed.

The Museum of Making will now be closed to the public while insurers are consulted, and the damage is further assessed.

The building will also need to be checked for contamination due to the entry of flood water.

The museum said that safety checks need to be conducted on ground floor doors to ensure a safe fire evacuation strategy remains in place, while professional cleaners will be brought in to remove any contamination caused by the water.

In a statement, the museum said: “As a result, the Museum of Making will be closed until remedial measures can be instigated to repair the damage.

“As soon as the building has been made safe and insurers have assessed the damage, the museum should be able to reopen its doors.”

Derby Museums said it had already received “significant support” for its flood damage appeal.

It is now in conversation with insurers and is hopeful that they will cover the majority of the remaining losses.

Donations to its appeal can still be made and will be used to either support any unmet recovery costs, or to keep Derby Museums open for all.

For more information about the appeal, and to donate, visit https://derbymuseums.org/news/derby-museums-flood-damage-appeal