CHISWICK HOUSE
CHISWICK House Reaches its funding target
£20,000 and the Chiswick House Dog Show Committee £5,000.
In May, Chiswick House launched a fundraising campaign to raise much needed money to cover the everyday running costs of the estate. The #welovechiswickhouse campaign launched, and an ambitious target was set of £120,000 in 120 days.
The money was raised through a programme of summer fundraisers: a plant fundraiser, an open day for families, a webinar series, culminating in the Chiswick House Auction. Simultaneously, the Chiswick House Friends Lego brick model fundraiser was also launched to support the #welovechiswickhouse campaign.
With grit, hard work and the support of the local community they have done it. Raising over £127,555 (beating the original target) – of which the Chiswick House Friends Lego fundraiser has contributed
What next? The income raised will support costs that have been draining the reserves to keep open, which gives Chiswick House valuable time to focus on what happens next. Three strategic projects have been identified to ‘broaden and deepen engagement’ with visitors and the local community: 1. ‘Children’s Outdoor Play: exciting and inclusive play-area and programme for all our local communities’ 2. ‘ Volunteering: a programme to improve wellbeing for vulnerable communities in Hounslow and expand our existing volunteer programme’ 3. ‘House interpretation: refreshed and engaging visitor experience to broaden our audiences in time for the planned reopening in April 2021.’
These three objectives have been fed into all fundraising bids to statutory funders (such as the National Lottery Heritage Fund) as well as Trusts and Foundations. Outcomes from these applications are expected by mid-October. At the same time, reviews are being undertaken on how to generate commercial income in order to reduce the dependency on event income. Nicki Thomas, Head of Commercial, has led the charge on how to diversify commercial income by exploring better use of under-utilised spaces and grounds and new retail opportunities. Chiswick House and Gardens Trust have set out the vision and ambitions in a 10 year Business Plan. The vision is to be: “A special place to delight, educate and be inspired by our 300 years of stories of influence, design and environment. For everyone everyday.”
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