Category Archives: Fundraising

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Help Restore the Victorian Toll House at Chiltern Open Air Museum

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Donate towards the restoration of our Victorian Toll House

This Giving Tuesday we hope you will continue to support our vital conservation work by making a donation, no matter how small or large, towards the restoration of our Victorian Toll House that originally stood in High Wycombe.  Why not take a look around the Toll House.

Each year 50,000 buildings are demolished in the UK. Many of these are of great historic and cultural importance to their communities.

Chiltern Open Air Museum is a charity that rescues historic buildings from your community that would otherwise be demolished to make way for new developments. They are rebuilt at the Museum to secure their future and preserve them for the enjoyment of all.

Every building in our unique collection was once the home or workplace of ordinary people – a history rarely preserved.  

As a self-funding Museum, we receive no regular government or council grants. Instead, we rely on donations and admission fees to fund the maintenance of our historic buildings and continue our vital conservation work.

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Created in 2012, Giving Tuesday was a simple idea: a day that encourages people to do good. Over the last decade, it has grown into a global movement that inspires millions of people to give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity.

Every penny counts so do please consider donating.

Giving Tuesday Nov 28, 2023

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We need your support

We would usually open every year daily between the end of March and October. However the Covid-19 emergency means we haven’t yet had the chance to open our doors to the public in 2020.

As an independent museum and charity, we receive no government or local authority funding and have now lost all our regular income from tickets, Annual Passes, events, weddings, school visits, filming and our shop and café. This represents around 80% of our total income.

This loss of income is incredibly worrying. We have some reserves that will keep the basic essentials of the museum ticking over for a few months. However the reserves we have built up over several years mean we’re not necessarily eligible to apply for many of the Covid-19 grants available to museum and heritage charities. While it is good news that we have these reserve funds to keep us secure for a while, the real danger from the loss of income due to the forced closure is that we may not have the opportunity to generate enough income over the 2020 season to survive through the winter 2020-21 closure. Even if the government relaxes the rules allowing us to open in the summer, it is likely there will be restrictions on activities and visitor numbers for a further period which will inevitably limit our ability to recover the lost income.

The management team have reduced outgoings as much as possible and the majority of staff are now on the Government backed Furlough Scheme. Nevertheless a number of essential staff are needed to keep the museum going, to ensure the 45 acre site is secure, maintain the building collection, and feed, water and care for the livestock of goats, cows, chickens and a flock of sheep now increased by around 16 lambs in the last month.

Our beautiful site is a popular place for wellbeing, learning and calm and our museum, like many, is therefore appealing to the community, heritage enthusiasts and supporters for help. We’re asking people to pledge their support by buying an open ticket to visit the museum when it re-opens, to buy an Annual or Lifetime Pass, make a donation or sign up to be a volunteer.


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