New Partners for Rossendale Museum

Rossendale Borough Council has today announced the appointment of the Whitaker Group as the preferred partner to take Rossendale Museum into a new future.

The Whitaker Group, working jointly with the Friends of the Museum, will take responsibility for the museum from 13th April 2013 and will be inviting visitors to contribute their views towards the future vision for the museum.

Julian Williams Director of the See Gallery one of the key partners in the Whitaker Groups said:-

“ We are really pleased with the support we have been given from Rossendale Borough Council and the Friends of the Museum to develop our ideas. The Museum has a great potential to be developed into a fantastic hub of activity for the community as a whole.”

The Museum will be open to the public at weekends and will begin on Saturday from 1pm – 4:30pm with a family event - the ‘Wonderful Things’ project  and visitors will also have the opportunity to view local artist Dave Pearson’s Bestiary series.

Geoffrey Atkinson Chair of the Friends of The Museum said:

“it’s great news that the Museum will continue to open and we are working with the Whitaker Group to ensure that the Museum continues to be a valuable family attraction.”

Several arts groups are also working closely with the group including Waterfoot's Horse and Bamboo Theatre.

Bob Frith, Joint Artistic Director, said:-

“This is a very exciting opportunity for the Valley, and given that an alternative was total closure of the Museum it is absolutely a move in the right direction. It will also be a positive step to develop the museum as an attraction for art and culture”.

For further information from Rossendale Borough Council please contact: Steve Jackson on 01706 252404 or stephenjackson@rossendalebc.gov.uk

For further information about Whitaker Group please contact: Carl Bell on 07834568531 or mail@carl-bell.co.uk

For further information about the Friends of the Museum contact: Arthur Marriott on 01706 226909

For further information about Horse & Bamboo please contact: Bob Frith at bob@horseandbamboo.org