For the 150 years of its existence the support of subscribers, members and donors has been the foundation of the Museum.

Over the last two years the Museum has made great strides in implementing change: visitor numbers are up; our exhibition programme is widely acclaimed, and there are great plans for future exhibitions; our educational and outreach programmes are thriving; the shop has new merchandise; the coffee shop has been transformed.

The 150th anniversary gives us a great opportunity to continue this momentum and to take the Museum forward to the next stage of its development as a nationally and internationally respected institution. The Museum has been successful in our recent round I application to the Heritage Lottery Fund for a new archaeology gallery, but we will still need to have a fundraising campaign to ensure that the work is completed by 2013 and that vital work in the Museum is maintained in the meantime.

Earlier this year the Museum announced the launch of the Salisbury Museum 150th Anniversary Fund to raise this money and more. We expect that the bulk of the funding will come not just from the generosity of private individuals but also from businesses and charitable trusts.. We have set ourselves a challenge to mark our 150th birthday by raising £150,000 from our own resources and by increasing our membership to 1500 in the near future.

With your support I am confident that we can achieve these ambitions. For example, if everyone reading this page donated £1 for each year of the Museum’s life, £150, we could swiftly meet our target. But more importantly we would demonstrate to the wider world that we have the energy and enthusiasm to take the Museum forward to a new level and to ensure its financial stability.

There are so many ways in which you can help: by giving a donation, of course, but also by recruiting new members, suggesting ideas for fundraising initiatives, organising events, identifying potential donors; or for the future, by remembering the Museum in your will.