The Chairman of Dimbola Museum and Galleries in Freshwater announced this week that although the Isle of Wight is one of the few places now allocated to Tier 1, the Board of Dimbola has reluctantly decided to furlough its paid staff until March 2021, and not to fully reopen the museum and galleries until then.
Dr Brian Hinton made the announcement on social media, adding,
“However, we know how popular Dimbola is in the holiday period directly after Christmas, so we plan to open for a week from Boxing Day, staffed by volunteers and under the management supervision of Board members.
“This is of course dependent on Government advice closer to Christmas.”
He went on to explain,
“We have been privately funded to undertake a major overhaul of our toilets to make them Covid compliant, using the same builders, Homewatch, who recently overhauled the external restoration of the house. They will take a break when we open post Christmas, from Boxing Day to New Year’s Day.
“Then they will resume, and we will use the enforced closure for volunteers to sort out our photographic archives. The office will remain closed during this period.”
Dimbola Tea Room
Dimbola Tea Room, staffed by non-furloughed part time staff, has been opening for takeaways only during the second lockdown.
From today (Thursday) will open four days a week, Thursday to Sunday, for restricted hours, and a menu of teas, coffees and light snacks only.
Reopen with a bang!
Brian finished by saying,
“We will be having a tabletop sale of Island fine foods and beverages, and a raffle in aid of the Trust, organised again by volunteers.
“We are gathering our resources to reopen with a bang, with the Cross Currents show at the start of April 2021, which celebrates Mrs Cameron’s links with India and Sri Lanka, and will see a multi-disciplinary celebration of connections then and now.”
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