Donate

We tell the story of Droitwich Spa's unique history through the ages, right up to the present day.

We welcome the opportunity to consider items from the fossil era to the present day, that relate to Droitwich Spa. On receiving an item we will assess it for its relevance to the existing collection, its importance in terms of local significance, the quality of the item and whether it fills an identified gap in our collection.

It is likely that we will be interested in your donation if it fits within our required criteria. In the first instance please contact us in writing or by telephone to discuss your potential donation. Please give us as much information as you can about the object, including a photograph where possible. Telephone: 01905 774312 ; email: heritage@droitwichspa.gov.uk

It may be that your object is a perfect fit. In that case we will accession it into our permanent collections.

Sometimes an object is offered that would be useful for education and outreach work. In these instances we will discuss our intentions with you.

Once the Heritage Manager has received your information, we will consider the options and be in contact within 4 weeks.

We accept objects into our permanent collections as donations, as public funds will be invested in their preservation and management. This means that legal ownership of the item(s) transfers to the Heritage Centre and we accept all responsibility for their ongoing care.

Purchases are considered in very rare instances. In general, we will not accept objects with specific conditions related to either their display or usage. You will be issued with a receipt for your donation.

If we do not accept your offer, please do not be offended. It may be that the object is too big or is a duplicate of one we already have. If we believe it will be of interest to another local museum we will put you in touch with them.

We will consider taking either an individual object or small collection on short-term loan for display purposes, but we will not accept loans on a term longer than one year.

We accept objects into our permanent collections as donations, as public funds will be invested in their preservation and management.

All loans are recorded with a loan agreement form, stipulating terms and conditions.

In respect of items created by the donor e.g. photographs, diaries etc we ask that they assign copyright to the Heritage Centre. Our collection receipt outlines the various copyright agreements available, although this is not necessarily a condition of donation. By assigning copyright to us, it allows us to use the object for research, publicity and marketing purposes. In all cases, items will be properly acknowledged. Any monies generated through such activity will be put back into the Heritage Centre so that we can continue to care for our collections and improve services and facilities for our visitors.

When we take your object we may not put it on display straight away. We may wish to store it in our archives room, for later use in an exhibition or we may wish to use it for a handling collection. We we will make this clear to you when you offer us the object.

We cannot accept any object where ownership (provenance) is in question and we may ask for proof in some cases. Please ensure that you have the right to donate or loan any object to the Heritage Centre.

We will not offer any valuations on any objects. If you require a valuation please search for a local auction house who should offer this service.

Where possible, the Heritage Managers will endeavour to offer advice on caring for your family papers and objects, to help ensure their long term preservation.