Kent Firefighting Museum is set to re-open in Ash after a charity has been set up to save the contents.

When the museum at Kent Fire & Rescue Service HQ in Tovil closed and went into storage in 2011, the future of the collection was uncertain but a group of former volunteers and supporters of the museum formed to consider options for the future.

There was a clear consensus that the museum should be saved and that a way should be found to re-open it to the public.

The group set up a steering committee to evaluate options, and arrangements have been made to occupy new premises with a charity established to run the museum.

The Rt. Hon. the Baroness Blackstone has agreed to be the Patron of the museum and will formally open it on Saturday, August 30 at 11am at Woodlands Garden Centre at Ash Lane near West Kingsdown where the new museum is located.

Owners of the Woodlands Garden Centre, Kim and Wayne Barr have family connections with Kent Fire and Rescue Service and are great supporters of the museum.

There are plans to provide a building in the future that will be constructed to resemble a scaled down Fire Station.

“We are delighted to have achieved charitable status, and we shall be opening the new museum soon" - Jeremy Beech

The museum will also use the former Chatham Fire Station as a storage and maintenance site, with some access to the public.

Chatham has been the temporary home of the old museum and has been cared for by a group of volunteers.

Commenting on progress chairman of trustees and former Chief Fire Officer of Kent, Jeremy Beech said: “We are delighted to have achieved charitable status, and we shall be opening the new museum soon.

"But the real work starts now. We need to enroll more volunteers to staff the museum and to give us one day a month of their time between 10.00 am and 4.00 pm.

"We have a team at The Woodlands and we would be delighted to welcome anyone with an interest in fire service history to become a volunteer."

There will be a day of activities to mark the opening.

For more information visit: http://www.kentfirefightingmuseum.org.uk/