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Royal Institution rescued by £4.4m donation Royal Institution rescued by £4.4m donation
(about 4 hours later)
The Royal Institution of Great Britain has been bailed out of a cash crisis that threatened to force the revered organisation from its Mayfair home. The Royal Institution has been bailed out of a cash crisis that threatened to force the organisation from its Mayfair home. Sir Richard Sykes, chairman of the 200-year-old institution, said it had received a donation of £4.4m that would clear its debts and give the board time to develop a fresh strategy to finance the charity.
Sir Richard Sykes, the chairman, said the institution had received a donation of £4.4m that would clear its debts and give the board time to develop a fresh business strategy. The cash from an anonymous foundation will pay off the RI's immediate loan and overdraft which had to be settled by March. The loan was secured against the RI's premises, an imposing £60m grade I-listed building in Mayfair.
The cash, from an anonymous foundation, will pay off the RI's immediate loan and overdraft facility, which had to be settled by the end of March. The loan was secured against the RI's premises, an imposing £60m Grade I-listed building in central London. The windfall has bought the RI a stay of execution, but senior figures still face a huge challenge to define a modern role for the institution, and forge partnerships with charities and businesses to overcome its long-term financial problems. The RI must repay a second loan of £2m in 2015 and is losing £1m a year in running costs.
The windfall has bought the RI a stay of execution, but senior figures still face a huge challenge to define a modern role for the 200-year-old institution, and attract enough paying visitors to overcome its long-term financial problems. Speaking at a special general meeting in London on Tuesday night, Sykes said the donation lifted the immediate prospect of having to sell the RI's home, and provided "breathing room to explore other options more fully".
Speaking to members at a special general meeting in the capital on Tuesday night, Sykes said the donation lifted the immediate prospect of having to sell the RI's home, and gave the institution "breathing room to explore other options more fully". Martin Knight, chair of the RI's finance committee said: "Some people might say we've been saved. We've not been saved, we've merely staved off the evil day."
That task falls to the RI's new "future direction committee", which must agree on how to bring the institution back to a sound financial footing. The committee, chaired by Lord Winston, includes the pPresident of the Royal Society, Sir Paul Nurse, the Oxford neuroscientist, Professor Colin Blakemore, and physicists Brian Cox and Jim Al-Khalili. "Our financial issues are far from being resolved," Sykes added. The task of defining a fresh vision for the RI falls to the new "future direction committee", chaired by Lord Winston. Also members are: Sir Paul Nurse, president of the Royal Society; Professor Colin Blakemore, an Oxford neuroscientist; and physicists Brian Cox and Jim Al Khalili.
Established in 1799, the Royal Institution is one of the world's oldest scientific organisations, made famous through leaps in knowledge, such as Michael Faraday's first demonstration of the power of electricity in the Mayfair building. Winston said the RI aimed to partner with other organisations, and to focus on education and public communication of science, using the internet to draw in a global audience. "We are not looking at trying to sell the building, he said.
The organisation was founded to improve links between science and society, an aim that prompted Faraday to establish the Christmas lectures, which run to this day. Sykes said the RI must decide on a clear vision for its future before it could go out looking for backers. He said Prince Andrew had convened philanthropists at Buckingham Palace to discuss the crisis.
The RI ran into financial trouble after a £22m refurbishment in 2008 that coincided with the economic downturn. The board's hopes to modernise the institution and turn it into a so-called salon for science failed to attract enough paying visitors to support the institution. Established in 1799, the Royal Institution is one of the world's oldest scientific organisations. It was made famous through leaps in scientific knowledge, such as Michael Faraday's first demonstration of the power of electricity. The organisation was founded to improve links between science and society, an aim that prompted Faraday to establish the Christmas lectures, which run to this day.
It ran into financial trouble after a £22m refurbishment in 2008 that coincided with the economic downturn. The board's hopes to modernise the institution and turn it into a "salon" for science failed to attract enough paying visitors.
In January it emerged that estate agents had shown potential buyers around the building in Albermarle Street, to the dismay of those who consider the RI part of Britain's scientific heritage.In January it emerged that estate agents had shown potential buyers around the building in Albermarle Street, to the dismay of those who consider the RI part of Britain's scientific heritage.
Fears that the the institution might lose its home sparked several grass-roots campaigns by Nobel prize winners and other prominent scientists to raise money for the ailing RI. Harry Kroto, who won the Nobel prize for chemistry, backed efforts urging the government or a wealthy philanthropist to buy the building. Fears that the RI might lose its home sparked several grass roots campaigns by Nobel prize winners and other prominent scientists. Harry Kroto, who won the Nobel prize for chemistry, backed efforts to urge the government or a wealthy philanthropist to buy the building. "I hope our representatives can succeed in bringing about a fresh approach which we all recognise will be needed for investment in the RI's 21st Century role, as not only the primary UK science education centre, but most importantly the spearhead of a global science educational initiative," Kroto said.
"I hope our representatives can succeed in bringing about a fresh approach, which we all recognise will be needed for investment in the RI's 21st-century role, as not only the primary UK science education centre, but most importantly the spearhead of a global science educational initiative," Kroto said. Plans put forward by Kroto and others call for a major effort to recruit fundraisers with a track record, and to turn the RI's much criticised restaurant into a shop that sells electric motor kits and samples of elements discovered at the RI. Further plans aim to increase the membership of the RI, which stands at around 3,500, one tenth that of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA).
Plans put forward by Kroto and others call for a major effort to recruit fundraisers with a track record, and to turn the RI's much-criticised restaurant into a shop that sells electric motor kits and samples of elements discovered at the institution. Further plans aim to increase the membership of the RI, which stands at about 2,700, one-tenth that of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce.