Future of Ness excavation under threat – can you help?
Site director Nick Card packs away the ‘Open to the Public’ sign at the end of 2019. We desperately need your help to make sure it sees the light of day again.
The Covid-19 cancellation of the 2020 Ness of Brodgar excavation, and related fundraising activity, is having a serious impact on Ness funds.
Contrary to what many people think, the Ness is NOT an excavation paid for by business or large government grants. Almost 80 per cent of our funding comes from public donations – especially during the summer dig season. Presently this is augmented by European LEADER funding (which part pays for director Nick Card and finds/admin supervisor Anne Mitchell – but only until September 2020) and a small local council grant.
We were about to submit a National Lottery Heritage Fund application but due to the present crisis all National Lottery Heritage Fund grant programmes have been suspended.
Other funding is similarly unlikely to be available as we all climb out of the current trauma.
Because we are not digging this year, we won’t be able to rely on the continued generosity of our site visitors or the on-site OAS shop sales, but post-excavation work continues and preparations for 2021 are already under way. We are also busy bringing together a major interim report on the Ness which will be published in the near future.
We are looking forward to welcoming you back to the site next year and will do all we can to continue engaging with you via the website and social media while we are all locked down – look out for our newsletters, many new posts and interactive ideas we will be bringing you.
We know this is a difficult time for all and cash is tight, but any donation – no matter how small – will help us keep the Ness of Brodgar project going and get us back on site in 2021.
In short, we need your continued support, otherwise the Ness project simply cannot survive.
Stay safe and well.
