A donation of more than half a million pounds has been awarded to Turner Contemporary gallery from an American bank.

The £530,000 handout was announced as the Margate art centre celebrated its second anniversary.

The money comes from the Goldman Sachs Gives fund and the gallery was chosen on the recommendation of Margate-born Peter Selman, co-head of Americas Equities Trading and Global Equity Derivatives Trading at Goldman Sachs bank in New York.

The support kick-starts Turner Contemporary’s Catalyst Endowment campaign, which seeks to raise £1 million in order to benefit from a further £1 million in match funding from Catalyst, which was launched by Department for Media and Sport (DCMS) and Arts Council England to help cultural organisations diversify funding streams.

Turner Contemporary director Victoria Pomery said: “In our first two years, Turner Contemporary has enjoyed huge success in terms of our profile, our programme and the learning and community projects we have delivered.

“We are very focused on securing the long-term future of the gallery and our aspiration is to build a £20 millon endowment pot. I would like to thank Goldman Sachs Gives for this generous donation and DCMS and Arts Council England for the match funding.”

Peter Selman was born and grew up in Margate, living in the town until the age of 18. He left Margate to pursue an MA in Economics from Cambridge University in 1994, moving to London and then New York in 2007 with his role at Goldman Sachs.

Peter said: “I was aware of Turner Contemporary before it opened and once it launched I visited and was determined to give it any support I could. It has been so transformative for the town.”