Colchester Archaeological Trust & Destination ColchesterPatrons: Tony Robinson C4 presenter Time Team; Dan Cruickshank, BBC History Presenter
Donate £1000 or more and secure a place on Roman Emperor’s Roll of Honour!
And help to save Britain’s only known Roman Circus!
Schools, business, organisations, Clubs and groups individuals can club together and raise £1,000 and will be awarded a place on the roll of honour!
We’d like to encourage all to be creative and organise a fundraising event!
Fundraising ideas: Dress as a Roman for the day! Have a ‘chariot’ racing fun day, Raffle, Garage Sale, Bring and Buy sale, jumble sale.
Roll of Honour CONSTANTINE £2500 + donation
Roll of Honour HADRIAN £1000 + donation
to save Britain’s only known Roman Circus
Developers Taylor Wimpey have agreed to sell the site of Britain’s only known Roman Circus to the Colchester Archaeological Trust (CAT) for £750,000 and have given a deadline of January 31 2010. We have promises of £500,000, so there is still £250,000 to raise to finance the project. Will you help?
Colchester’s Roman circus is the only known Roman chariot racing track found in the UK, and this reflects Colchester’s status as the Roman capital of Britain. In Roman times, chariot racing was an incredibly popular sport, much like football is today. Colchester has a wealth of Roman architecture most of which is simply dotted around the town, with no cohesive, dedicated information or interpretation.
Currently the area of land where the circus has been discovered is owned by a large property developer, Taylor Wimpey, who has agreed to sell the vandalised Victorian building and a portion of land which houses eight starting gates for the arena, to the CAT campaign group. We wish to buy the land and the building, creating a visitor centre, to provide a focal point and a starting point for a Roman history trail around the town. This would mean that this unique piece of Roman Britain and ancient monument will be preserved for ever, to be enjoyed by Colchester residents and visitors alike for many years to come.
Can you bring to life Britain’s and Colchester’s heritage for all to enjoy and be proud of? We have to find £250,000 before the end of January 2010 – or lose the site forever to developers.
Because of the tight deadline ( we have till 31 Jan 2010 to buy the site) we need to raise as much money as quickly as possible. All donations are welcome, major donations will gain for a place on the Roll of Honour. Your donation will enable Britain’s only known Roman Circus to survive – for future generations. It’s the perfect Christmas gift!
· Donate via www.romancircus.org
· Please send cheques to The Colchester Archaeological Trust at 12 Lexden Road Colchester, CO3 3NF.
· Cheques should be made out to The Colchester Archaeological Trust.
· If you are a UK tax payer, we can claim back the tax via gift aid at no cost to you. Download and sign a gift aid declaration form and return it to us with your donation. This will increase the value of your donation by 28%.
· See BBC Look East report on Roman Circus http://news.bbc.co.uk
· The Save the Roman Circus appeal is run by destination Colchester and the Colchester Archaeological Trust.
· Follow appeal on Twitter twitter.com/romancircus and Facebook Save the Roman Circus
