The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Jim Clark museum bid moves up a gear after funding boost
ONLINE: Motorsport fans pledge £100,000
Plans for a museum celebrating the life of Fife motor racing legend Jim Clark are to move to a crucial stage after a crowdfunding campaign unlocked more than £250,000 for the project.
Over the past six weeks almost 750 motorsport fans from around the globe pledged in excess of £100,000 towards the proposal to expand the existing Jim Clark rooms at Duns in the Borders into a major attraction showcasing some of the double Formula One champion’s race cars and a host of memorabilia from the career of a man regarded by many as the greatest ever racing driver.
With private donations totalling another £100,000 and £75,000 of backing from trusts and charitable foundations, the Jim Clark Trust and Scottish Borders Council is now preparing to submit a £645,000 lottery funding bid to make the £1.6 million vision a reality.
Clark is celebrated by a life-size bronze of the striding superstar in his Fife birthplace of Kilmany, but Duns has become a mecca for fans after the small museum was set up in the heart of the area where he farmed.
Features in the new attraction will include image galleries, interactive displays and a technology and education zone alongside cars driven to victory in Formula One and the Indianapolis 500.
Doug Niven, Clark’s cousin, said: “It’s been heartwarming to see hundreds of people from countries around the world backing this project.
“We still need to raise more money to ensure we reach the £300,000 required, we’ll be working hard in the months ahead to make it happen and people can still donate if they so choose via the Jim Clark Trust website.
“If this target is reached successfully and with popular support, the trust’s ambition is to then consider a further £300,000 for an extension to the rear of the building to display up to 10 cars or more for a wider celebration of Scottish motorsport.”