The Brunel Institute - shortfall secured

Artist Richard Carmen's impression of the proposed development

Earlier this year the SS Great Britain Trust launched a fundraising campaign in partnership with the Evening Post to bridge a shortfall in funding for the new Brunel Institute.

The £35,000 gap in funds has, thanks to generous donations from Evening Post readers and supporters of the historic ship SS Great Britain, now been secured and the £6million development project will go ahead.

Development Director of the SS Great Britain Trust, Vanessa Edwards, says "this generous support.....means we will be able to open the Brunel Institute library later this autumn to reveal a world-class treasure".

The Institute will give academics and the local community of Bristol access to a collection of maritime books and materials free of charge. The building itself is designed to provide an inspirational space for users and it will have views over SS Great Britain.

The Brunel Institute library will house thousands of engineering and ship-building books, ships plans, models and maritime photographs and films - most of which were previously inaccessible due to lack of space.

The official grand opening is on November 29th, 2010 and there is also an earlier opening to the public in October 2010.

2010 marks the 40th anniversary year of  a the historic ship SS Great Britain's rescue and return to Bristol.

Source [This is Bristol]