Campaign to Save the Staffordshire Hoard has Reached £1 million

Written by Craig Hungerford Sunday, 28 February 2010 22:44

LONDON.- As the end of February fast approaches, the fundraising total for the Staffordshire Hoard campaign has reached £1million. So far, the total raised towards saving the most valuable treasure found on British soil is £1,080,000. Of this, almost £500,000 comes from members of the public. The Art Fund is spearheading the campaign to save the Staffordshire Hoard for the West Midlands . The charity is delighted to have reached this landmark figure, just seven weeks into the campaign, which began on 13 January.

The Art Fund’s Director Stephen Deuchar commented: “This is really excellent news, furthering our conviction that if the campaign continues to gather steam, we still can make the £3.3million by 17 April. However, there is much work to be done and we need as many public donations as possible – so if you’ve been inspired by the Hoard but haven’t yet donated, now is the time.”

The Staffordshire Hoard (also known as The Mercian Hoard) is a name given to the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold yet found. Discovered in a field in the village of Hammerwich near Lichfield in Staffordshire, England on 5 July 2009, it consists of more than 1,500 items that are nearly all martial in character. The artefacts have tentatively been dated to the 7th or 8th centuries, placing the origin of the items in the time of the Kingdom of Mercia. Experts have theorised about the purpose of the deposit, and whether those who made it were Christians or pagans.

Until Sunday 7 March, visitors to the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery will be able to admire 118 items of the hoard, including 40 artefacts that have never been seen before. The exhibition at the Potteries will run between 10am – 5pm every day up to and including 7 March.

Donations have ranged from £10 from a nine-year old girl to £50,000 from the Charles Henry Foyle Trust. The Potteries Museum also had a £50,000 cheque from an anonymous donor on the eve of their exhibition opening on 12 February. Donations have come in from as far afield as the US and Japan - but about one-third of donors are from the West Midlands .

So far, the Stoke-on-Trent displays of the Hoard is exceeding all expectations. 20,000 visitors turned up in the first nine days, beating all previous records at the museum. So far visitors to the Potteries exhibition have donated £90,000 to the campaign. The exhibition is open until Sunday 7 March.

Plans are currently under way to display the items in Birmingham , once the exhibition in Stoke closes.

Working together with the Staffordshire Hoard partnership, The Art Fund is leading the campaign to raise the £3.3m. All the money must be raised by 17 April in order to save the treasure.

The Art Fund urges more members of the public to step forward and donate, by visiting www.artfund.org/hoard or by calling 0844 415 4004.

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