Like many British attractions, the Bronte Parsonage Museum is encountering the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Yorkshire museum usually welcomes 70,000 visitors a year. However, being forced to close since March is imposing unsettling uncertainty on the museum’s future.
Devastating losses
The visitor experience is based in the family home of the Bronte sisters, making it a lot smaller than most museums. Museum staff have expressed to enforce social distancing the attraction’s visitor numbers would have to be significantly reduced or remain closed. This is said to be sabotaging the museum’s funds, which relies heavily on ticket sales. It is reported the museum have suffered £500,000 in losses so far.
It is understood that without the museum, a knock-on effect will be had by local businesses who rely heavily on Bronte tourism.
Crowd-funding appeal launched
To ensure another closure is not an option, the museum, which celebrates the literacy of Charlotte, Anne and Emily Bronte, is attempting to raise £100,000 to kick-start the Yorkshire attraction’s recovery.
£10,000 has been raised in donations so far. The appeal reads:
Like many museums, galleries and arts organisations across the world, the Brontë Parsonage Museum is currently closed to the public due to the Covid-19 pandemic. And, like the majority of those other institutions and organisations, we are a registered charity. Although our work is supported by Arts Council England, we rely heavily on income from admission fees and our event and learning programmes to run our inspirational museum.
We understand that these are challenging times for all of us, but if you make a donation today, you will be helping us to safeguard the museum, access to the collection and the livelihoods of all our staff and the artists and writers we work with. We are determined and motivated to continue to fulfil our mission to ‘bring the Brontës to the world and the world to Yorkshire’, and any gift you can make today will help us to do just that.
And the museum has been given a lifeline through the TS Eliot estate, who have gifted £20,000 to boost funds.
Clare Reihill, trustee of the British-American poet’s estate, told the Daily Mail: “It seems to me crucial we help other literary bodies should they run into trouble.
“We have to secure our literary past and the Bronte sisters contribution to our literary culture cannot be overstated.”
We hope to see the Bronte Parsonage Museum thriving again!
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