Funding Needs
In May 2008 it was announced that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation had turned down a request for funds because the foundation only funds Internet-based technology projects. Since Bletchley Park receives no external funding, it is in dire need of financial support. Simon Greenish, the Bletchley Park Trust's director said:
We are just about surviving. Money – or lack of it – is our big problem here. I think we have two to three more years of survival, but we need this time to find a solution to this.
On 24 July 2008 more than a hundred academics signed a letter to The Times condemning the neglect being suffered by the site. In September 2008, PGP, IBM and other technology firms announced a fund-raising campaign to repair the facility.
On 6 November 2008 it was announced that English Heritage would donate £300,000 to help maintain the buildings at Bletchley Park, and that they were in discussions regarding the donation of a further £600,000.
In July 2009, the British government announced that personnel who had worked at the park during the war would be recognized with a commemorative badge.
In August 2011, it was noted that Google provided partial funding for the purchase of Alan Turing's papers and provided other support.
Sue Black and others have used Twitter and other social media to raise the profile and funding for Bletchley Park.
In October 2011, Bletchley Park was awarded a £4.6m Heritage Lottery Fund grant which will be used "to complete the restoration of the site, and to tell its story to the highest modern standards.", on the condition that £1.7m of 'match funding' is raised by the Bletchley Park Trust. By June 2012 it had successfully raised £2.4m to unlock the grants to restore Huts 3 and 6, as well as develop its exhibition centre in Block C.
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