A crowdfunding campaign to save the Gloucestershire museum and home of the father of vaccination Dr Edward Jenner needs £1,000 by Thursday.

The museum in Berkeley announced it was under threat in April due to the coronavirus pandemic, and has since raised £33,485 from 943 donations.

The museum’s manager, Owen Gower, said they need just over £1,000 in order to help it survive without visitor income.

Dr Edward Jenner is known as the father of immunology, and he lived in the house in Berkeley between 1785 and 1823.

In 1796, he famously injected eight-year-old James Phipps with cowpox from a cow called Blossom, believing it would protect the boy from catching the deadly smallpox virus.

The discovery saved billions of lives and the disease was successfully eradicated.

Mr Gower said if enough money can’t be raised by the end of March 2021, the museum may face permanent closure.

To donate, please follow this link: crowdfunder.co.uk/drjennershouse?fbclid=IwAR0UsGBixQZ1srpn8ptlWtifqtilnThD998mjHlfheWPPu_81CL7Zv3qDfU

Mr Gower said: “The problem we have at the moment is the uncertainty. We’re looking at the Government’s guidance and the roadmap for re-opening, and to be honest with you we’re struggling to see where we fit into it and how Dr Jenner’s House could operate in the immediate short-term as a socially distanced museum.

“It’s really crucial from our point of view that it’s not just safe to open – although safety is the utmost priority – but also it has to be viable to open. We certainly wouldn’t be wanting to open if we were going to make a financial loss of opening.

“If we can raise the £34,490 and raise it now, we know we can just about survive the year. It will be uncomfortable but it will be a year that we forecast we should be able to survive.

“By raising the money now, it allows us to go back to focussing on our core purpose once again which is celebrating the life and legacy of Edward Jenner. It’s such an important story at the moment.

“If we can’t raise what we need immediately at the end of this crowdfunder then we have to rethink our fundraising strategy. That just takes us further away from the work we should be doing.

“If we can’t raise the money by the end of the financial year, then we are in trouble and there is a very real danger that the museum could cease to operate.

“We don’t know how long this will go on for in any assemblance of normality. With each passing day we don’t have visitors or we’re not operating normally, our future is put further at risk.”

“By supporting us now people are not just supporting the immediate short-term but they’ll give us more time for the long-term to make sure we do have a platform on which to rebuild.”

“The fact that the donation have come from around the world has been fantastic. We don’t normally get comments like we have when we’ve done fundraising in the past.

“It’s been really quite touching to see the comments from all over the world just how much Edward Jenner inspires them, and how important it is to them that the museum continues to operate.”