Family hope to save museum's treasures

From The Staffordshire Sentinel: Tuesday 27^th July 2010

MEMBERS of the Wedgwood family have launched a campaign to protect the Wedgwood Museum's collection from being broken up and sold off. Support for the attraction has come from the UK and across the world.



The museum is under threat after being saddled with a £134 million pension fund deficit claim from the Wedgwood Group Pension Plan. It was thought the company scheme would be taken over by the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) following the collapse of Wedgwood and sister firm Royal Doulton last year. But the PPF could not legally accept the scheme as there was still a surviving solvent organisation with fund members connected to it – the Wedgwood Museum in Barlaston.



Lawyers for the museum argue its treasures cannot be sold off because they are protected by "permanent endowment" status, but it will be months before a judge makes the final decision. Tom Wedgwood …a direct descendant of company founder Josiah, said: "The upcoming court case is a potential tragedy for all of us in North Staffordshire. We have had enough bad news, with closures and job losses in the pottery industry. "I don't understand how such a ludicrous case has arisen and I urge common sense to prevail. Why would anyone donate money or family possessions to trusts if the Government can introduce new legislation that means they are sold off? Now we are in a ludicrous position when we might have to try to raise funds to buy back and re-donate all the pieces which were originally donated by Wedgwood ancestors and cousins and previous generations of factory managers."



The family has launched a website and Facebook profile SaveWedgwoodMuseum to spearhead the campaign.



Dr Alan Wedgwood, head of the Wedgwood family, said: "When members of the Wedgwood family donated parts of their personal collections to the museum trust over the course of the last two centuries, this was done as an act of social philanthropy, in the belief the collection would be preserved for all future generations. New government legislation should not be introduced which can cause the subsequent break up and sale of this historic collection."



The campaign team says auction house Christie's has valued the collection at £20 million, meaning the PPF would still have to find the bulk of the £134 million shortfall. And supporters believe it is unfair to hold the museum to account because five out of 7,000 Wedgwood Group pension fund members work for it.



Tom Wedgwood said: "I want to stress to all Wedgwood pensioners that even if the collection was sold, it would not mean extra money for them.



"It would just mean the PPF has to pay less into the compensation scheme when it eventually steps in."



A "permanent endowment" covers any asset which trustees cannot spend because of a restriction in the charity's governing documents.

In Praise of the Wedgwood Museum – “The Guardian”

In praise of … the Wedgwood Museum

Josiah Wedgwood was one of the of the late 18th century, his life a model of industrial, political and intellectual progress Josiah Wedgwood was one of the remarkable men of the late 18th century, his life a model of industrial, political and intellectual progress. An anti-slavery campaigner, a member of the Lunar Society and founder of the factories that still produce fine ceramics in Stoke-on-Trent, his work is celebrated in a thriving museum that now faces the most unjust of threats to its future. The Wedgwood Museum in Stoke, which reopened in 2008 after a lottery-funded transformation, risks being dragged down by a legal quirk. 
When the ceramics firm went bankrupt last year – and transferred to new owners – five members of the museum's staff remained in the pension fund. As an accidental result of a new law intended to protect pensioners, the museum has found itself liable for funding the pensions of 7,000 ex-Wedgwood factory employees and a £134m deficit, an impossible task. The museum trust was forced into administration last month as a result – though the museum remains open and as busy as ever.

Its administrators are waiting for a court ruling which may compel them to break up and auction off its extraordinary collection. Such vandalism is barely imaginable: the museum's contents trace 250 years of cultural and manufacturing history, including many pieces of global importance and immense value. The court could rule that the museum is not liable, but if the sale begins, no donor could ever be generous enough to rescue its contents from a forced sale to private collectors abroad.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/may/17/in-praise-of-wedgwood-museum