STAFF at Torfaen Museum have appealed for people to continue supporting the museum following a disastrous week.

Last week, Torfaen County Borough Council announced plans to cut the core-funding to the Trust and it’s running of the Torfaen Museum. Following that announcement, thieves stole lead from the museum’s roof, just days before Storm Bronagh hit.

As a result of the roof damage, the storm destroyed the building's catalogue office and boiler room.

Museum curator Deborah-Anne Wildgust said: “Fortunately we haven’t had to move a lot of the collection as that end of the building is mostly offices.

“There were some items that were still being catalogued that we have had to move.

“Our catalogue with all the items in the museum was in the room where it was raining the most. We do have copies of the catalogue, but it does bring it in to context that these things can’t be replaced.

“We have been removing carpets and taking things to the dump when we could have been concentrating on fundraising.

“After the summer we’ve just had, where we could have fixed the roof no problem, for it to happen now and to have the storm come a few days later is just bad timing.”

Speaking after the burglary, Councillor Alan Jones, executive member for business, tourism, leisure and culture, said: “This is a disgusting act and I hope that anyone with information about this theft will contact the police.

“Pontypool Museum plays an important part keeping the heritage of the town alive and the phased reduction in its annual grant has been calculated to ensure that it can still remain open for business.

“The council has had to make more than £60 million in savings over the last eight years and we have to find further savings of £25 million by 2023. Unfortunately there are no easy choices left for us to make.

“We have offered the museum trust continued support to review their current business model and will work with them to help identify alternative funding opportunities.”

The chairman of the Torfaen Museum Trust Mr G I Davies MBE said: “Whilst the Trustees understand the austerity cuts that the County Borough Council has to contend with, the fact that the museum has been so severely targeted means that the future of the borough collections, one full-time and 12 part-time local employees’s jobs and a large volunteer base have all been put in jeopardy.

“The irony of the situation is, that unlike any other business, institution or charity in the Valley, should the museum Trust not find alternative funding, the Trust will have to fold and the Borough Council would automatically become responsible for not only the grade II* building that houses the museum but for the entire collection of artefacts.

“This could incur the residents of Torfaen with a hefty bill for their inventory, security, insurance, preservation, professional monitoring and future storage or display.”

The Museum’s curator added: “We are on a shoestring budget, in two years time if we can’t find funding I can’t see how we could stay open. The trust wouldn’t be able to pay its existing staff and it wouldn’t be able to make them redundant.

“The biggest help is joining us as a member of the Trust. For £20-a-year you get free entry to the museum and our events. The fees that people pay go to help run the museum. The more members that we have, the less we rely on funding from the council.

“If everyone who is already a member finds one person to join up that would really make a difference.”

The Torfaen Museum Trust cares for collections that form a unique and irreplaceable record of the history and culture of the Torfaen Valley.

Over 20,000 artefacts, artworks, papers, books and photographs make up the collections which have been either purchased with public money, or kindly and personally donated by the people of Torfaen or given by descendants of former residents.

The artefacts range from millions of years old coal measures fossils, through prehistoric and medieval finds to industrial and working peoples’ personal and domestic possessions as well as their military medals.

The museum opened in 1980 in Pontypool.

A crowdfunding page has been set up to help with the costs of repairs for the museum, and is available at www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/pontypoolmuseum