Campaigners are increasing pressure on Reading Borough Council to spare Reading Museum and the Town Hall from proposed cuts of £150,000 over two years.
The Friends of Reading Museum has written a letter to the council to object to the planned budget reductions of £100,000 in 2016/17 and a further £50,000 in 2017/18.
In 2015/16 the expenditure for the town hall and the museum was £1,717,100. Staff working at the museum have been consulted on the changes, which will be voted on by the council’s policy committee at the end of this month.
The proposed cost savings would result in six jobs being lost at the museum.
In its letter to the council, the Friends of Reading Museums highlighted that the museum and town hall had already been restructured in 2010 with positions being cut across the service.
It also said that the cuts could result in the loss of the museum’s Accreditation with Arts Council England and threaten relationships with major funders, such as the Heritage Lottery Fund and the V&A Purchase Grant Fund.
John Steed, the vice chairman of the Friends of Reading Museum, said: “We know exactly what the museum means to Reading and the future of Reading. To anybody outside London it's a very good museum, it is proactive and puts on some very fine exhibitions.
“The cuts would be devastating not only in terms of staff morale but also in terms of the quality if the museum.”
In its letter to the council the Friends of Reading Museum suggested that costs could be reduced by cutting opening hours, encouraging visitors to make donations and getting volunteers to work in the shop. It also highlighted that in 2014 the museum attracted 110,000 visitors and carried out extensive outreach work.
Reading Borough Council has estimated it needs to save £39 million from last July to 2019 to accommodate for a 40% cut in government funding.
Jo Lovelock, the leader of Reading Borough Council, said: “Since 2011 the council has made major savings whilst avoiding impacting on frontline services as much as possible, but the scale of the government cuts we are now facing is unprecedented for Reading.
"By 2019 Reading Borough Council will have taken an estimated £100 million out of its budget. You cannot do that without impacting on people and organisations in the town.”
The Friends of Reading Museum has written a letter to the council to object to the planned budget reductions of £100,000 in 2016/17 and a further £50,000 in 2017/18.
In 2015/16 the expenditure for the town hall and the museum was £1,717,100. Staff working at the museum have been consulted on the changes, which will be voted on by the council’s policy committee at the end of this month.
The proposed cost savings would result in six jobs being lost at the museum.
In its letter to the council, the Friends of Reading Museums highlighted that the museum and town hall had already been restructured in 2010 with positions being cut across the service.
It also said that the cuts could result in the loss of the museum’s Accreditation with Arts Council England and threaten relationships with major funders, such as the Heritage Lottery Fund and the V&A Purchase Grant Fund.
John Steed, the vice chairman of the Friends of Reading Museum, said: “We know exactly what the museum means to Reading and the future of Reading. To anybody outside London it's a very good museum, it is proactive and puts on some very fine exhibitions.
“The cuts would be devastating not only in terms of staff morale but also in terms of the quality if the museum.”
In its letter to the council the Friends of Reading Museum suggested that costs could be reduced by cutting opening hours, encouraging visitors to make donations and getting volunteers to work in the shop. It also highlighted that in 2014 the museum attracted 110,000 visitors and carried out extensive outreach work.
Reading Borough Council has estimated it needs to save £39 million from last July to 2019 to accommodate for a 40% cut in government funding.
Jo Lovelock, the leader of Reading Borough Council, said: “Since 2011 the council has made major savings whilst avoiding impacting on frontline services as much as possible, but the scale of the government cuts we are now facing is unprecedented for Reading.
"By 2019 Reading Borough Council will have taken an estimated £100 million out of its budget. You cannot do that without impacting on people and organisations in the town.”
