Friends, volunteers and staff of The Norris Museum in St Ives gathered last week to celebrate the submission of a bid for a 1.4 million Heritage Lottery Fund grant.

The museum will find out whether it has been successful in November. The grant for the Huntingdonshire’s Heritage project will mean that the museum can have new displays and more items will go on show and reserve collections will be stored better. There will also be an extension to the building for educational activities and many more learning and outreach events will be delivered.

The museum’s director, Sarah Russell, has been working hard to collate all the information for the bid, but it has been a team effort. Volunteers have been busy photographing, listing and repackaging the collections in store, contributing to planning meetings and helping raise the 10 per cent match funds required by the National Lottery, by organising sales, talks, walks and quizzes.

Chairman of the Friends of The Norris Museum, Sue Limentani, presented a cheque for £35,000 to Deborah Townsend, St Ives’ deputy mayor.

Sue said: “These funds have been collected over many years from past and present Friends of The Norris through a variety of fundraising events and the sale of publications at the museum. They represent a major contribution to the match funding required which will enable improvements across the whole museum site to proceed.”

If the bid is successful, The Norris Museum will close its doors for 12 months, from January 2016, but during this time a museum on the move event will visit community venues across Huntingdonshire with travelling displays and fun activities.

INFO: The Norris Museum is open from Monday to Saturday, from 10am-4pm and Sunday, from 1pm-4pm. Admission is free.