On Friday 17^th June, Derby Museums, by kind permission of Sir James and Lady Chichester, hosted An Evening at Radbourne Hall, in support of the museums’ Endowment Fund.

Guests enjoyed a fabulous summer evening with prosecco and canapés, an exclusive viewing of the Estate’s private Joseph Wright of Derby art collection, a special raffle and talks on the history of Radbourne Hall and its private collection from Derby Museums’ Senior Curator of Art and the Joseph Wright Collection, Lucy Bamford, local historian Maxwell Craven and Lady Chichester.

The event raised over £6,500 towards Derby Museums’ Endowment which, with match funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, will be doubled to £13,000, helping to provide a long-term, sustainable annual income for Derby Museums.

Jenny Cuadrado, Head of Development at Derby Museums, said:

“We were delighted to receive such a fabulous response at Radbourne Hall, and we would like to thank everyone who attended for supporting us on the night and for the generosity of their donations. The Endowment will help us to ensure future generations have access to our museum collections and the huge range of activities and events that they inspire.”

Donations from the event helped Derby Museums to cross the line with its £1 million Endowment target this week, which will now be match-funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund to a total of £2 million, helping to secure the museums’ future for generations to come.

To celebrate reaching the £1 million milestone, and to say thank you to its supporters, Derby Museums is offering all visitors special FREE entry to see the Do It Yourself? exhibition at the Museum of Making throughout July (1^st-31^st).

Fundraising for Derby Museums’ Endowment will continue through gifts in Wills, monthly gifts and through our dedicated on-site donation boxes.

Derby Museums would like to thank the following for generously donating to the raffle, which supported the fundraising at the event:

• Denby Pottery
• Don Amott Leisure Kingdom
• English Wine Project & Renishaw Hall
• Hanson’s Auctioneers
• Sally Montague Hair Group
• University of Derby
• White Peak Distillery

To find out more about the Endowment and to make a donation, visit Derby Museums’ website at: bit.ly/DMEndowment.

Images and video (c) Pictoria Pictures / Derby Museums