Preserving the rich heritage of Alford and Donside for future generations

Important Announcement

Museum Facade

Sadly, the Museum Committee has decided not to reopen the museum this season. Our reasons are as follows:

  1. We do not have sufficient volunteers to operate – some of our volunteers are in the high-risk age category and may not wish to be interacting with the wider public yet.
  2. Surveys by Visit Scotland and others indicate that people will not be returning to their previous visiting and travelling habits for some time and, in particular, will not be visiting indoor venues. Income would therefore be minimal.
  3. We have not been able to complete some essential building repairs as contractors and surveyors are still not operating.

Whilst this is obviously disappointing, we will not be the only museum or tourist attraction in this position.  We have identified the following as being priorities for the next few months to ensure that the museum can reopen in 2021.

  • Put out an appeal for Trustees to manage the museum, move it to a new governance structure which removes liability from individual committee members, and then consider how to attract funding for building improvements.
  • Put out an appeal for new volunteers to help run the museum, manage the collections and develop new services outside of the museum.
  • Apply for some grant funding to assist with new services and building repairs.
  • Develop new ways of taking the museum and its collections out into our community – for example, to schools, care homes and other community groups

You can still keep in touch with us through Facebook and by email.