David Ruffley has today publicly expressed his strong support for the Museum of East Anglian Life's development project which will transform the Museum into a flagship institution for Stowmarket.

David has written to Richard Ellis, Chairman of the East of England Development Agency (EEDA), setting out the reasons why financial support from EEDA is so crucial to the project. The Museum is hoping to attract funding of £1.7 million from EEDA.

The total cost of the project is £5.3 million. The Museum of East Anglian Life (MEAL) has already submitted a funding bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund for £2.9 million and is already well on the way to raising the remaining funding.

A copy of David's letter to Richard Ellis is attached.

David said:

'I am delighted to support the Museum's development plans which, as well as being ambitious and imaginative, will offer so much to Stowmarket.

'MEAL's site in the centre of town, which is so accessible to so many people, will provide something for everyone- the old, the young, families, tourists and, through the social enterprise schemes, socially excluded groups such as learning disabled adults, people with mental illness and the long term unemployed.

'From interactive displays in the barns to art exhibitions in the restored Abbot's Hall, there really will be something for all my constituents.'