How you can save Bletchley Park

Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire does not give the impression of being one of the most significant battlefields of World War Two.

The Victorian buildings and surrounding grounds speak of a more genteel past but Bletchley – codenamed Station X – was the driving force behind Britain's attempts to break the codes used by German forces.

Bletchley Park is also considered by many to be the birthplace of modern computing. Driven by the inspirational guidance of Alan Turing, engineers from the Post Office constructed the world's first programmable, digital, electronic computing devices, which used vacuum tubes to perform calculations.

This historic site now houses a museum of computing, hosts special events to celebrate the importance of the Enigma codebreakers and provides a wide range of educational events, courses and learning materials for students of all ages.

Problems at Bletchley
But Bletchley Park faces serious financial difficulties. Because it receives no Government funding and relies on visitor income and donations, important historic buildings are in serious disrepair.

The World War Two exhibits and National Museum of Computing, which houses the rebuilt Colossus computer that decoded high-level German communications, are run on a shoestring budget.

Computeractive and its sister publication Personal Computer World are backing efforts to help Bletchley Park.

How you can help
An independent supporter of the heritage site has set up a petition urging the Prime Minister to save Bletchley Park, which has gathered more than 11,000 signatures. Donations to the trust that runs the centre can be made via its website.

Perhaps the best way to lend support is to visit the site – you can buy a £10 pass that allows you to visit the site as many times as you like in a year.

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