All part of life's rich tapestry....

by EWAN LAMB

The various stakeholders in the £6.8 million Great Tapestry of Scotland gallery in Galashiels - it is due to open next spring a year behind schedule - will be hoping more than most that Covid-19 beats a hasty retreat from the Scottish Borders.

Critics have already expressed doubts that the costly project can attract sufficient numbers of 'customers' to make the visitor centre, housed partly in the town's old post office building, financially viable. The centre will play host to 160 panels depicting Scotland's history. They were produced by a thousand volunteer stitchers.

Indeed two separate financial assessments - one by a firm of consultants commissioned by Scottish Borders Council, the other carried out by the museum's managers-to-be the Live Borders Trust - came to vastly different conclusions as to the profit or loss likely to be recorded in the first five years.

Jura Consultants told the local authority, which has agreed to under-write any shortfalls in revenue as well as taking on annual loan charges of £208,000 to pay off their capital contribution of £3.5 million, that the tapestry facility would lose money from year one onward with a deficit of £185,000 accruing after five years.

But when the calculator was handed over to Live Borders they assured the council and others they could shave an impressive £77,600 a year from the Jura Consultants business plan running costs. That would result in a £202,500 surplus after five years predicated on 51,000 paying customers each year.

So clearly any reduction in attendances caused by Covid travel restrictions or an absence of overseas visitors to the Borders could have a potentially devastating impact on the new centre just as it is getting off the ground.

The hope is the tapestry will generate an additional £892,000 for the struggling local economy as well as providing 17 jobs,

Meanwhile, in the lead up to the opening, Live Borders itself has had a rough time financially. The Trust, formerly known as Borders Sport & Leisure, posted a £723,000 deficit in 2018/19 due largely to a £970,000 pension adjustment.

And to make matters worse the annual management fee the Trust receives from the council to run leisure facilities, museums and libraries is being cut by 3% year on year. SBC handed the Trust £5.475 million last year, £5.315 million this year with a further drop to £5.189 million in 2021/22.

The Coronavirus crisis appears to be having a detrimental effect on tapestry galleries throughout the country.

In their annual report just published the trustees of The Quaker Tapestry, housed in a listed building in Kendal, Cumbria, have this to say: "As this report is being compiled in early April 2020 we are in the midst of a coronavirus crisis which is affecting the whole nation.

"The museum and buildings have been closed since mid-March. While the present situation lasts absolutely no income will be earned from admissions and associated Gift Aid, shop sales, workshops, room letting or flat hire.

"This is the most serious risk to core income that Quaker Tapestry has faced in its 25 years operating in Kendal. Quaker Tapestry is in a very difficult situation as 60-65% of income is earned from activities. Quaker Tapestry has no major on-going grant funding. All staff except the General Manager have been furloughed".

However, in 2019, when the Kendal visitor attraction was functioning normally it still recorded a financial loss.

The tapestry began life in Somerset in 1981 with over 4,000 people in 15 countries producing 77 wool embroidered panels depicting the experiences of Quakers since the formation of the movement in 1652.

"We have a dedicated group of volunteers without whom we should find it difficult to continue our present operations", writes trust chair Susan Tyldesley in the annual report.

Quaker Tapestry ended last year with an overall loss of £13,807. The number of visitors is not specified in the report but admission money brought in only £12,781.

The report adds: "Given the 2020 situation (Covid) it will be vital that replacement income is found to allow Quaker Tapestry to continue operating".

It has been suggested a charge of £7.50 could be levied at the Great Tapestry of Scotland museum.although according to the Live Borders website a leaflet aimed at the travel trade indicates the entry fee has yet to be confirmed.

The leaflet does contain one slight mathematical error. It claims the tapestry:"tells the inspirational true story of the country’s history, heritage and culture (from 8500 BC to present day, a period of 420 million years).