Museum lifts lid on inspirational bid (From Swindon Advertiser)

Museum lifts lid on inspirational bid

5:04pm Wednesday 4th April 2007 in

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THE bid to transform the Wroughton Science Museum with millions of pounds of Lottery cash has been launched.

The Inspired project will see a complete overhaul of the 545-acre Second World War airfield site in Wroughton.

Big Lottery funding is planned to form the bulk of the financial support - with up to £17m generated from other causes.

A morning of presentations yesterday was followed by tours of the hangars.

Fun and games came from the Punk Science team, of the London Science Museum. They offered a light-hearted presentation on inventions, including the Wright brothers' 12 seconds of flight and Georges de Mestral's idea of velcro in 1948.

The project, which aims to create a brand new type of interactive museum by 2010, is one of six candidates bidding for £50m from the Big Lottery, to be voted for by the British public later this year. There is only one winner and no second place.

Inspired will offer tours, workshops, themed dramas and science shows.

Director of the National Museum of Science and Industry, Martin Earwicker, said: "We really enjoyed the launch, but this is only the beginning. We want to inspire youngsters and engage adults with science.

"If we win the vote it will put Swindon on the map as it will be an international project and we are very confident we will achieve this.

"Inspired will not only provide a brand new type of museum with access to previously unseen inventions and innovations, it will also inspire future generations of scientists to step up to the challenges of our world."

The development would deliver fun for everyone by bringing to life human stories and moments of genius behind 200,000 iconic objects, from the Science Museum's collections of science and industry from the last 300 years. These have been previously inaccessible to the public. They are currently in storage and include the computer ERNIE One, the first Electronic Random Number Indicator.

The Swindon Museum will compete for funding with The Living Legend bid in Sherwood Forest, Somerset's Waterlinks, a Dry Topics Biome at the Eden Project in Cornwall, The Black Country as Urban Park project and the Bristol-based Connect2 sustainable transport initiative.

Dr Ian White, chairman of Viridor Credits, which is an independent charity and founding funder of Inspired, with a £1m grant, said: "Viridor are proud and excited to be a founding supporter of Inspired because it's a project that we believe will provide so much fun, as well as valuable learning for everyone."

Scott Dew, 13, who attends Hreod Parkway School, on Akers Way, has been made the young ambassador of the project. He spoke at the launch and said: "Members of the Swindon Museum team came to my school and asked if anyone wanted to get involved with the bid.

"I jumped at the chance as I have been fascinated by science from a young age.

"It would be fantastic if the Swindon Museum were successful in their bid. It would be great for the town and hopefully inspire people my age to get interested in science.

"We are all really excited about Inspired and the opportunities that it will provide for school children like us. I think it will make science a much more exciting subject and to have it on the edge of Swindon is brilliant."

The national launch is expected to take place next month.

A new text service has just been set up to give people the opportunity to keep up to date with the latest project developments.

To register text "SMS Inspired" to 88833.

It costs the standard network rate for a text and after that it is free.