£100,000 donation boosts revamp of Burrell Collection
A BID to raise £15 million of the total £66m cost of the revamp of Glasgow’s Burrell Collection has received a major boost.
A donation from the W M Mann Foundation of £100,000 has taken the funds raised so far from trusts and private individuals to £2m, to add to the £27m pledged by Glasgow City Council.
The £2m raised includes support from more than 100 individual funders. Work is beginning on the revamp, which will mean the Burrell Collection in the south side of Glasgow will stay closed until 2020.
Glasgow City Council has agreed to provide up to 50 per cent of the project costs and approved funding of £27.3m for the project at a meeting of its Executive Committee on February 16.
The Heritage Lottery Fund has pledged support of £15m for the project and the UK Government committed £5m to the project in November 2015.
Bruce Mann, from The W M Mann Foundation said: “We know how much people in Glasgow love visiting their museums. I regularly visited with my father and I now enjoy going with my own children.
“Sir William’s generosity in leaving his collection to the city was great. The W M Mann Foundation is pleased to help ensure his gift can be enjoyed for generations to come.”
The foundation has handed out around £2.5m in charitable grants since it was established in 1988 by Bill Mann.
Councillor Archie Graham, chair of Glasgow Life, which runs the city’s museums and galleries, said: “We’re thrilled that The W M Mann Foundation and indeed many other generous donors share in our desire to create an outstanding home for Sir William’s great legacy.
“At this early stage of the project, to receive so much support, is testament to the ambition and quality of our proposals for the Burrell Collection. We are grateful to The W M Mann Foundation.”
Work is required to revamp the museum as it is dilapidated.