Nothe Fort set to reopen after raising funds needed through Crowdfunder

Nothe Fort in Weymouth is making use of more than £10,000 raised as part of a Crowdfunder campaign, which will allow staff and volunteers to put in the correct safety measures needed to open on Saturday, July 11.

The Crowdfunder campaign raised more than £5,000 which the Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) promised to match, taking the overall total to £10,192.

James Farquharson, chairman of Nothe Fort, said: "We've had to make a lot of changes to make the fort safe for the public and it's not cheap at all.

"It's brilliant that people have had such a connection with the fort that they have been willing to reach into their pockets and give us the money we need to keep it going.

"Once we open on Saturday, we can start earning money from tickets and then hopefully we should be ok going forward.”

The new safety measures at the fort have included the moving of the ticket desk which was previously situated in the same area as the gift shop. The shop has been extended into the area the ticket desk was in, allowing more room for social distancing.

A one-way system has also been created, along with safety glass and signage installed throughout the museum.

Some rooms will not be available to the public since they are too small to practice correct social distancing. To compensate for this, tickets for the museum will allow visitors free re-entry at any time over the next 18 months, at the same price.

Mr Farquharson continued: "The building is nearly 150 years old, so it's very expensive to maintain. Even being closed, it still costs us a lot of money.

"All together it's been quite a big project. We have volunteers in training today to get a feel for the new measures, it's so nice to see the fort come back to life after such a long time of being empty.

"It's good news for the town, it sends a really good message to tourists that they can come to Weymouth and the people here are doing the right thing and keeping them safe."