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Bletchley Park restoration short on funds
The historic tech relics need a bit of TLC...

By Tim Ferguson

Published: Friday 30 May 2008

Historic Bletchley Park needs a financial helping hand to save several buildings used by World War II codebreakers.

Bletchley is home to a rebuilt version of the legendary Colossus codebreaking machine which cracked the Nazi Enigma code and played a major part in ending the war in 1945.

Bletchley Park turns back time

Photos: Colossus gets cracking after 60 years

Photos: The Colossus WWII codebreaking machine

Video: The Colossus WWII codebreaking machine

The Bletchley Park Trust needs around £1m to repair the roof of the park's mansion and a similar amount to restore three huts used by legendary figures such as Alan Turing.

Trust director, Simon Greenish told silicon.com: "The fact is we've got old buildings here and they all need attention."

The Trust is in talks with the National Lottery Fund and others to secure funding and Greenish is confident the funds can be raised.

He said: "We've actually got some lines of approach which are beginning, I think, to potentially come good. But in the meantime we've got to try and make sure these buildings stay together and that is the challenge at the moment."

The Trust also has exciting plans to develop the park and save it for future generations. Greenish said: "In the longer term, I think we've got good plans. I think the future's looking quite good," he said.

"Overall we're looking at millions in order to turn this site into something that's really got a long term sustainable future," he added.

The Trust relies on visitors (which have increased by 40 per cent in the last two years), event hosting and donations to run the park and aims to make it into a world class heritage site and educational centre.