A £150K donation by The Harris Charity to the Friends of the Harris will fund a new
Children’s Space for #HarrisYourPlace

The ambitious scheme will redevelop the children’s library to improve facilities for schools and families.
It will offer children’s books alongside art and history from the museum collections as well as playful interpretation and digital access.  The plans are based on consultation with children’s library users, and a trial during 2019.

Designed with the needs of families in mind, the new space will be fun and creative, where even the Harris’ youngest visitors will be able to get hands-on and explore.  It is planned to open in 2025 following a two year #HarrisYourPlace construction period during which library and museum services as well as family activities will be elsewhere in the city.

Despite both being connected to Edmund Robert Harris’ legacy to Preston, the Harris Charity and the Harris Museum, Art Gallery & Library have not worked together before now.  The grant is being made to the Friends of the Harris charity, which raises fund to support the museum, art gallery and library’s service to the public.

Edwin Booth, Chair of the Harris Charity Trustees said, “My Great Great Grandfather Edwin Henry Booth was a founding trustee of the Harris Orphanage whose sale in 1985 created the Harris Charity which supports young persons in difficulty and also helps ensure that their talents are not constrained through lack of funds. Edwin Henry had been an orphan boy at the age of 11 and he was keen to encourage disadvantaged youngsters in all walks of life to find fulfilment. The Harris trustees and I are proud to provide funds to help the Friends of the Harris support the creation of a place of discovery and learning for children and their families in the iconic Harris Museum, Art Gallery & Library building as part of the #HarrisYourPlace project.”

Greta Krypczyk-Oddy, Chair of the Friends of the Harris, said, “The Harris Charity are making a huge difference for Preston children by helping the Harris to create a fantastic new space for families and schools. We are very grateful to the Harris Charity trustees who will help to revitalise the Grade I listed Harris for the next 100 years, with spaces and services which meet the needs of Preston people. All of the money that we raise locally helps us to generate larger national grants which will ensure the full £10 million #HarrisYourPlace project goes ahead. This grant is a huge step forward.”

#HarrisYourPlace is the £10m plan to revitalise the Harris Museum, Art Gallery & Library for the next 100 years.

It will create:

• A better welcome for more people
• A richer visitor experience
• Inspiration for Preston’s communities
•  Support for our local economy

All in a beautifully refurbished historic building fit for the next 100 years of Lancashire weather

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