London’s Cinema Museum has launched a fundraising campaign to safeguard its internationally important collection and historic home.

The public appeal, Buy Our Home, seeks to raise £500,000 by December to secure the future of the museum's site in Kennington, South London.

Housed in the former Lambeth Workhouse, where Charlie Chaplin spent part of his childhood, the Cinema Museum is the only museum in the UK dedicated to the experience of cinema-going. It also houses the only archive of cinema architecture.

The campaign aims to help secure the museum for future generations by enabling it to acquire the historic building, which has been its home for more than 25 years. Its page on the Crowdfunder website states that “property developers and shifting ownership have threatened the museum with closure”, and that the purchase of its building would end “decades of insecurity”.

The founders of the museum, curator Ronald Grant and director Martin Humphries, said: “The Cinema Museum is far more than a collection of artefacts; it is a living archive of our cinema heritage. Every projector, poster, ticket, photograph and memory tells the story of how cinema shaped our communities, culture and lives. This campaign is about ensuring that story can continue to be shared for generations of audiences and filmmakers to come.”

Black and white photo of a Charlie Chaplin figurine wearing a bowler hat and bow tie, standing between two vintage film lights.
A black and white photo of a large, old brick building with arched windows, decorative details, and a fenced garden. Leafless trees are on the left, and the sky is cloudy.
Black and white photo of a cluttered industrial room with large machinery, wires, control panels, and a light fixture. Two large windows reveal brick buildings outside.
Rows of beer bottles line a bar, with movie reels and string lights as decor. A large PALLADIUM sign hangs in the background. The setting is lively and eclectic in black and white.
The museum has a historical connection to actor Charlie Chaplin Credit to Francesco Zavattari, courtesy of the Cinema Museum

The museum’s collection spans more than 130 years of cinema history. Its items celebrate the social history of cinema design and cinema-going, from Victorian magic lanterns and vintage projectors to rare posters, usherettes’ uniforms and cinema memorabilia.

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The Cinema Museum is not publicly funded and is run almost entirely by volunteers. For nearly four decades it has preserved cinema heritage through exhibitions, guided tours, screenings, talks and educational events for visitors from around the world. Through the use of its buildings, collections and volunteer workforce, the museum also supports its local community by delivering wellbeing, educational and environmental projects and events.

Supporters are invited to donate, share the campaign and help spread the word.