by Jonathan Hunt
Following Southwark Council’s admission that the building housing the Livesey Museum for Children is not theirs to sell, council bosses have agreed to meet with the Friends of the Livesey on 9 May to discuss the possibility of re-opening the museum as an independent operation.
A delegation from the Friends will be meeting council leader Cllr Nick Stanton and environment director Gill Davies on 9 May.
With work in progress to officially constitute a Trust to manage the Museum, the Friends are also developing plans to ensure that it takes on a much fuller and exciting role in informing and delighting young children.
The meeting follows months of campaigning by local residents against the council’s decision to close a popular local museum as part of a round of budget cuts. At an earlier meeting with campaigners, Council leader Nick Stanton claimed the building would realise in excess of £1 million if sold.
Aided by top lawyers working for free, the Friends of the Livesey Museum for Children proved that the building, originally a gift to the people of Southwark from local industrialist George Livesey, was held in trust and therefore could not be sold. Council officers claimed that the trust had been breached when the museum came into being in the 1970s, though the Friends’ advisers claim the purposes are sufficiently close as not to be worth worrying about. The council is seeking an agreement to “remedy the breach of trust” and to seek approval from the Charity Commission.
The council will no longer be able to levy a huge “commercial rent” for using the building. Cllr Stanton had proposed that the Friends or any body taking it over would have to pay rent of more than £60,000 a year.
And there is still plenty of time for people who want to help preserve the museum to have their say in the exact direction the new improved museum would take. Chair Emma Brooker is appealing to supporters to formally join the group – thus giving it a lot more clout in negotiations with the council, and with sponsors.
Membership is free, and new joiners can do as little or as much time and effort as they feel like giving. We need people to help manage membership services, liaise with the press, raise funds and help us keep our profile up at local events such as Hillabaloo and the Brimmington Park Midsummer Festival .
To join. please download and complete the application form and return it either by post or email to one of the following addresses:
POST: Friends of the Livesey Museum for Children (Membership), c/o Peckham Voluntary Sector Forum, 48 Willowbrook Road, London SE15 6BW
EMAIL: livesey.friends@googlemail.com
Filed under: Membership, Running costs, Southwark Council, building, media, museum
