Newsletter May 2020

Thank you for the support that you give to Turner’s House Trust. What an incredible month this has been!  We still cannot believe that it has been a whole two months since we went into lockdown. We hope that you have been able to keep yourselves busy and enjoy the good weather we’ve had.

The 2.6 Challenge has gone the extra-mile!

Last month, Virgin Money London Marathon’s 2.6 Challenge, was launched to raise awareness of the crucial role played by charities in all aspects of UK life.  The organisers challenged the nation to become heroes and fundraise for their favourite charities from home.   The Chief Executive of the NSPCC was one of them, wearing 26 different shirts over 26 days, and altogether a record 3,961 charities have raised more than £10.5 million to date, and counting.

With J.M.W. Turner’s close association with so many iconic areas of London, we wanted Turner’s House to be part of this Campaign, but for something so different for us, we did not expect  such a great turn-out!  We are a creative lot!

Romy rowed in-doors for 26 minutes whilst watching a film about JMW Turner, Rita found and shared on her social media 26 books about the artist, while Christine shared 26 different skies, one every day of the campaign, that we think Mr. Turner would have loved to paint.   But Julia really went the extra mile (literally) arranging for 2.6km of bunting to be spread along the Petersham Road as a thank you to key workers, our NHS and to celebrate VE Day…while fundraising for Turner’s House’s educational programme.

The Campaign ended on the 21^st May, and so in 26 days we’ve raised more than £2,700 with more to come from the Charities Aid Foundation.   At the same time, we have successfully created the Turner’s House Trust Virgin Money Giving charity account, which means that anyone can donate to the Trust simply and easily online from now on.

 

 

The work of the Trust is carrying on, even in lockdown, and we are very grateful to all those who are continuing to support us whilst we all look forward to the day when we can re-open.

Volunteers are a precious gift

Here at Turner’s House we are working very hard on those plans to re-open as soon as we can and in the safest way possible. We’ve been keeping in touch with our wonderful team of volunteers every week since lockdown. This month we held our first volunteer Zoom meeting with almost 40 of us including a fascinating 10-minute talk about portrait of JMW Turner which will be soon shared on our YouTube page. Also we have started sharing ideas about how we can re-open safely. Already, small numbers have been back to tend the garden, which is looking full, colourful and beautiful.

#Museums from Home

We have also been very busy bringing J.M.W. Turner and his house in Twickenham into your homes.  Regular posts with curiosities, videos and podcasts are published on our social media (Twitter, Instagram and Facebook) and #VolunteersFridays tell you more about our valued volunteers, who they are and what they do.

This month, two more videos have been published on our YouTube channel. Did you know that JMW Turner bought the plot of land where Sandycombe Lodge stands in May 1807? And aren’t you curious about the women in Turner’s life? Click HERE to watch the videos and, subscribe to the Channel whilst you are there, so you will be notified as soon as we upload more.

Champagne Tea and Musical Afternoon [virtual!]

This month, we had planned a fundraising concert in aid of Turner’s House at the delightful Twickenham riverside home of Lady Camilla Panufnik. Lady Panufnik, known for her close links to the classical music world, is also a generous champion of Turner’s House and had been keen to host a Champagne Tea and Musical Afternoon showcasing talented musicians from the Royal College of Music.

Whilst we couldn’t go ahead with the live event, we were delighted to receive a recording of this virtual concert given by pianist Lucas Krupinski and violinist Joel Munday, and introduced, from a safe distance, by Lady Panufnik from her home.

We have taken the opportunity to share a preview of the concert with our Patrons Circle, Sandycombe Circle and Supporters Circle members whilst we work to transform the programme of exclusive talks and events for Members into virtual experiences.

Please do look out for this concert when it goes on our public YouTube channel next month.

For more information about the Circles, click HERE.

Reading and Learning

Do please keep in touch by following Turner’s House on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for updates and to see our Volunteer’s Fridays features. For further reading, please click HERE for the downloadable booklist our Learning and Volunteers Officer has created for her 2.6 Challenge, all fascinating insights into the artist, his painting technique and places he lived and travel to.

 

Wishing you the very best of health for you and your family,

Turner’s House Trust

May 30, 2020