City collection in new home search as lease expires

1 hour ago

Vanessa Pearcein Coventry

News image — Scott Duffin has been displaying his collection celebrating Coventry's city heritage at the indoor market, since March

BBC Scott Duffin stands amid his collection and is wearing glasses on his head, a grey and black sweatshirt and is standing next to a collection of images of old Coventry. — Scott Duffin has been displaying his collection celebrating Coventry's city heritage at the indoor market, since March

A man who has transformed a collection of memorabilia into a free museum visited by thousands from the UK and round the world now fears it could lose its home.

Scott Duffin's Coventry Collection, made up of around 100,000 items documenting the city's past, is based in Coventry Market but faces an uncertain future when its lease expires in October.

He said he has been unable to find a suitable alternative venue, despite growing interest in the attraction, which has been drawing hordes of visitors since opening in March.

"I had the concept of a museum in my head," he explained. "But I didn't know if it would work. But it hasn't just worked, it's thrived."

The collection continues to grow on a daily basis, he explained.

"Just today, we had some sketches of old Coventry dropped in by a man who thought they were prints," he said.

But you can tell they're original, from about 1880 or 1890."

A series of prints showing Palace Yard, St Michael's Church and Bond's Hospital. — A collection of sketches from the 1800s was donated to the collection

"And another lovely guy who had seen we have a lot of Coventry cars, brought me in a Standard Triumph badge, with another donating a football club medal, he added.

Duffin must move the collection by 26 October as the market is to undergo some redevelopment.

"Ideally, it would be great to find somewhere else, preferably larger," he explained. "Because we are currently unable to display some of our larger items."

He said he had welcomed between two and three thousand visitors since opening, "which has driven trade into the market as well".

He said a search for a new home had so far proved illusive.

"I've been asking the right people, but so far nobody can help," he said.

"I want to give the city a museum and the people a museum."

Shelves containing dozens of bottles and other items of city memorabilia — Scott Duffin estimates the collection has about 100,000 items

The feedback from visitors had been "just fantastic," he said.

"I've received so many messages from all over the world just saying how much they enjoy it and how much they appreciate what we're doing here and it's huge for Coventry because there's definitely a big appetite for what we're doing."

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