Gifts and donations

We are very pleased to receive gifts and donations of objects for the collections. However, we operate a strict Acquisitions and Disposal Policy 314kb pdf which governs what we collect and how we go about it.

Our collections are organised into four broad groups for management purposes; Archaeology, Art and Design, Hampshire Community Collections, and Natural Sciences. Each grouping has slightly different criteria for accepting material for their collections. The collection manager for each grouping has the responsibility of ensuring that these criteria are adhered to and that ethical and legal constraints are complied with. It is they who make the final decision about whether an object or collection may be accepted.

Please contact us if you have an object or collection which you would like to donate. Alternatively, if your object is easily transported, you may leave your object at one of our museums where you will be provided with a receipt. The museum will then pass it to the relevant collection manager for consideration. If the object is accepted for the collections, the owner will receive a letter of thanks. Objects not required for the collections will be returned to the owner, unless it has been previously agreed that we can dispose of the object.