Shed auction to raise funds for Florence Nightingale Museum

An auction held in a garden shed will take place in a bid to save the Florence Nightingale Museum.

Derbyshire-based auctioneers Hansons said it has decided to help after hearing £160,000 was needed to help the museum continue to operate.

The museum's director said it has four months of operating costs left and little income due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

Hansons is calling for lot donations ahead of the nurse's 200th birthday.

Florence Nightingale Museum director David Green said the museum, based at the site of St Thomas' Hospital in London, was "certainly under threat" of closure.

He said the museum had "invested in an exhibition and events to mark Nightingale's bicentenary" on Tuesday, but "that plan has backfired dramatically".

The museum "receives no core funding from government", and 98% of its income comes from ticket and shop sales, Mr Green added.

Mr Green said: "If things don't change the museum will have to stay closed, we might have to look at the collection being split up, or given to another museum."

Charles Hanson, of Hansons Auctioneers, will run the auction online from his garden shed in Derbyshire.

He said: "I was horrified when I learned about the museum's plight. Florence Nightingale is one of Britain's greatest historical figures.

"The image of the 'Lady with the Lamp' caring for soldiers during the Crimean War is iconic.

"The loss of this museum is unthinkable."

Mr Hanson is calling for people to donate items to be put up for the auction, which will take place on 5 June.

Follow BBC East Midlands on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected]