YORK Army Museum has launched a fundraiser to allow them to welcome back volunteers with Covid regulations and equipment in place to ensure safety, as well as supporting their work with schools.

The museum, which tells the stories of our regiments from 1685 to the present day, is currently closed due to the national lockdown. However, they are aiming to raise funds to allow volunteers to return safely when they are able to do so.

A spokesperson for the museum said: "We miss our volunteers very much at the moment, but we can't welcome them back to the museum until we have sufficient protective equipment in place to make sure they are all safe.

"We love engaging with schools but again, at the moment, object handling is difficult to deliver."

The money raised will be spent on providing volunteers with their own set of equipment for cataloguing, cleaning and packaging objects, and a safe space in which to work with protective screens. This costs £120 per volunteer. They aim to raise enough funds to equip and protect five collections volunteers, which totals £600.

The museum also want to provide their education staff and volunteers with more loan boxes, which they can lend to schools or community groups to be kept for use within their group bubble, and then returned, quarantined and cleaned. This costs £300 per box. They are aiming to raise enough funds to create a First World War and a Second World War box, which will total £600.

The museum is hoping to raise £1,200 in total.

The museum's spokesperson went on to say: "Please take a look at our fantastic rewards and consider pledging towards our target.

"Every penny counts and every donation helps to preserve heritage, to share our soldiers' stories, and to keep community volunteers safe."

To support the museum's fundraiser, click here.