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The Cinema Museum, London’s under-threat temple to all things silver screen, has launched a crowdfunder to secure its future.
The Elephant & Castle venue, which once pipped the Tate Modern to claim Time Out’s Most Loved Local Culture Spot, needs to raise £500,000 by December.
The aim is to buy its home and banish the threat of eviction that has loomed large in recent years.
The building itself represents cinema history in its own right. It was once a workhouse where a young Charlie Chaplin lived as a boy.
‘This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to buy our home – the historic Grade II-listed Lambeth Workhouse – and we must raise the £500,000 in five months to seal the deal and end decades of insecurity – and potential eviction,’ says the museum in a statement.
Founded in 1984 by cinephiles and enthusiastic collectors Martin Humphries and Ronald Grant, its collections feature everything from art deco cinema seats to 1940s ushers’ uniforms. The museum faced potential closure in 2018 when developers purchased its historic building, with over 70,000 fans signing a petition to save it.
In a city full of cinemas, the volunteer-run venue is a true one of a kind: a space dedicating to celebrating the cinema-going experience from the silent era and into Hollywood’s Golden Age. One of the city’s best kept secrets, it’s a big draw for cinephiles and more casual movie lovers alike. ‘People fall in love with the place,’ says Humphries. ‘I’ve never been to another museum [like it].’
According to the museum, the funds would also enable it carry out repair and development work, open to the public on a daily basis (it currently opens for tours on select days), and ‘support the next generation of young people wanting to break into careers in cinema and filmmaking’.
Head to the official site to contribute to the crowdfunder.