Children from Fulwood's Harris Primary School have chosen the Friends of the Harris as their charity for the year, and are going all out to support the #HarrisYourPlace campaign to create the UK's first blended museum, art gallery and library for Preston.
Years 5 and 6 children at the school are visiting the Harris Museum, Art Gallery & Library on Monday 20th May to get stuck in behind the scenes to help staff and volunteers look after museum collections including paintings and historical objects. They will also find out about their new children's space, review an exhibition and welcome some of the 380,000 people who visit every year.
They will move on to hold a range of charity events back at school - such as a fancy dress fun run; sponsored sing & sponsored silence; and break the rules & crazy hair day - which will support the £10.7 million fundraising campaign for #HarrisYourPlace, the Harris' capital development plan.
The development will provide a better welcome for more people, a richer visitor experience through blended displays of art, history and books, inspiration for Preston's communities and support for the local economy, all in the beautifully refurbished Grade I listed Harris building.
Chair of the Friends, May Grasar, says:
"We were absolutely delighted to hear that children from Harris Primary School had chosen us as their charity of the year and are looking forward to welcoming them to the museum and library. It's incredibly appropriate that they have chosen to support #HarrisYourPlace which will revitalise the 125 year old Harris to make it fit for the many hundreds of thousands of visitors to come. We'd be very pleased to hear from any other organisations, individuals and businesses who would like to get involved.
Jared and Chenai, Year 6 School Council Representatives, said:
"We are delighted and feel fortunate to be able to go to the Harris Museum, Art Gallery & Library to help out for the day, as well as raise money for the #HarrisYourPlace development.
"The reason for choosing the Friends of Harris as our school charity included the links between Harris Primary School and Harris Museum throughout history and the fact that it is popular for all ages within the community. Finally, we would like to thank the museum for involving us in its fundraising and we are looking forward to doing more exciting activities with the museum in the future."
To find out more about the Friends of the Harris (reg. charity 503726) #HarrisYourPlace campaign, go to www.harrismuseum.org.uk/support-us