Anna Plowden Trust News

Textile Conservation Centre closure protest

The Anna Plowden Trust has funded anumber of students to attend courses at Winchester School of Art’s Textile
Conservation Centre, one of the leading resources in its field in Britain, and indeed in the world. Trustees were therefore dismayed to learn in October 2007 that policy changes at the School meant that in
future the TCC would be required to become completely self-supporting financially – a state effectively precluded by the Centre’s small scale. The Trust wrote
to the Dean of Law, Arts and Social Studies, Southampton University (the School’s parent body) copied to the Vice-Chancellor, expressing its dismay. The Trust noted the irony that government policy
should produce this consequence at the same time that the Culture Secretary was declaring that preserving the national heritage was “at the heart of the
government agenda in general”. The Trust said that if the TCC were to organise a meeting to discuss general issues of conservation education, it would be willing
to take part and to consider helping to meet the costs of such a meeting.

 

Fundraising and Donations

Since the Trust started its activities in 1999, it has distributed nearly a quarter of a million pounds in grants in support of its programmes. We have assisted around 70 students to train in conservation skills in some of the leading British conservation training institutions by contributing towards their tuition fees. We have assisted over 50 working conservators to add to or update their skills through attendance at short courses or conferences in the UK and overseas. Some of this has been in support of teachers, thereby multiplying the impact of the training received. We have also funded a one year internship at the Victoria and Albert Museum, awarded four prizes for innovation in conservation, provided financial help to support the convergence of the UK professional conservation bodies and initiated a programme to publicise successful conservation projects.

The Trust’s activities are funded entirely from donations, initially from Anna’s friends and family. To continue our work we need on-going funding. We would welcome contributions from you to one of the specific programmes listed on this page or towards our activities as a whole. Any amount is welcome and will help directly towards developing conservation skills and awareness. For example, our grants have included a sum of less than £100 to help a conservator attend a training course, £3,000 to assist with fees for a full-time conservation qualification and £11,000 for a year’s internship at a national museum. Donations are not used for the Trust’s running costs (which are minimal).

If you would like to make a donation, please send a cheque made payable to the Anna Plowden Trust, to Francis Plowden, 4 Highbury Road, London SW19 7PR. You might also consider remembering the Trust’s work in your will.

info@annaplowdentrust.org.uk
www.annaplowdentrust.org.uk