Sir Ian McKellen and Maxine Peake back campaign to save People's History Museum

The two are among many well-known faces to pledge their support to the People's History Museum ­— described as one of the country's most important ­— which has lost more than £210,000 income since the start of the coronavirus pandemic ­— and it needs to raise £25,000 by the end of the month to ensure its survival.

(People's History Museum)

Among the 300 people who have pledged their support are Sir Ian, Bolton actor Maxine Peake as well as former Coronation Street star Julie Hesmondhalgh, director Mike Leigh, Prestwich poet Tony Walsh and broadcaster Melvyn Bragg.

Sir Ian describes the “amazing exhibitions” that he has seen at the museum, which he “cannot recommend too strongly”, and urges people to support the museum.

(Pledging thier support)

Maxine, former Westhoughton High School pupil, said the museum was "one of my favourite in the country".

She said: "We will only move forward in the future if we learn from our past. We need places like PHM that look after that history and preserve it for future generations.”

Melvyn Bragg said he sees PHM as “one of the most important museums in this country".

He said: "It tells the story of us – 97 per cent of the people in this country and their fight over centuries for their rights; for democratic rights, for voting rights, for the equality of women, for trade union rights to give everyone in this country the entitlement to live their life as full as possible.”

(People's History Museum)

Katy Ashton, director of People’s History Museum, says, “People’s History Museum has carved out a unique role for itself in its dedication to exploring the past, present and future of British democracy and in leading the way forward in co-creation, community engagement and inclusivity.

We find ourselves in this challenging situation at a time when we feel that the conversations, discussions and work that we carry out are more relevant than ever. Reflective of this is the contemporary collecting that we’ve carried out over the last 12 months, with Covid-19, Black Lives Matter and Brexit some of the key issues that the museum’s Collections Team have been focusing on.

"We hope that the support of our friends will carry us through the difficult months that lie in front of us and that we can continue to stride forwards with our groundbreaking work. We also want to thank those funders who have given us support during the pandemic."

People’s History Museum has a Crowdfunder target of £25,000, which it must achieve by Tuesday 26 January 2021 (11.00am). All of the money raised will go towards alleviating the income shortfall felt by the museum; although outgoings have been dramatically reduced, it still costs £903 per day to maintain an online presence, look after the collection and take care of the historic listed building that makes up part of the museum site.

To support the appeal visit www.crowdfunder.co.uk/futurephm.