Winding back the clock to 2004, Watts Gallery was listed by English Heritage as ‘at risk’. We faced the mammoth task of raising over £10m to restore a crumbling gallery, to make it more accessible, to conserve and enhance the collection, to extend the education and outreach work, to establish a centre for exploring Victorian art, social history and craft, and to ensure its financial future.

It was to G F Watts’s most famous work, Hope, that a generation turned to when it was first displayed and that we turned to again to guide us on our mission to rescue the gallery. The Hope Appeal raised £11.2m as a result of the extraordinarily generous support from funders, starting with a donation from the gallery’s neighbours Peter and Marian Williams to restore the aging boiler.

We remain indebted to National Lottery Heritage Fund for its grant of £4.9m and the myriad of benefactors, donors, trusts and foundations for rescuing and reinstating Watts Gallery and providing the catalyst to reuniting Watts Gallery – Artists’ Village with a commitment to safeguard its future for the next hundred years.

Anson Charitable Trust

Art Fund

Barbara Whatmore Charitable Trust

Billmeir Charitable Trust

Bishop of Guildford's Foundation

Carole and Geoffrey Lawson Foundation

Christopher Forbes

Christopher Gridley

Community Foundation for Surrey

Sir David and Emma Verey

David Pike

Deborah Loeb Brice Foundation

Derek Hill Foundation

English Heritage

Esmée Fairbairn Foundation

Evelyn Charitable Settlement

Fenton Arts Trust

Fidelity UK Foundation

Finnis Scott Foundation

Foundation for Sport and the Arts

Foyle Foundation

Garfield Weston Foundation

George John and Sheila Livanos Charitable Trust

Golden Bottle Trust

Guildford Borough Council

Hamish Dewar Ltd

Hazelhurst Trust

Henry Moore Foundation

Hilary Bachelier-Carasco

Idlewild Trust

Ingram Trust

Isabel Goldsmith-Patino Foundation

J Paul Getty Jr Charitable Trust

John Ellerman Foundation

John George

John and Kate Siebert

John Lewis OBE

John S Cohen Foundation

KPMG Foundation

Leche Trust

Linbury Trust

Lloyds TSB Foundation for England and Wales

Man Group Plc Charitable Trust

Mercers' Company

Michael Marks Charitable Trust

Michael Varah Memorial Fund

Miklos and Sally Salamon

Monument Trust

Nevill Keating Pictures

Oxford Exhibition Services

Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art

Peter Harrison Foundation

Pilgrim Trust

Professor Rob Dickins CBE

Rayne Foundation

Restoration Fund

Richard Ormond CBE

Robert Freidus and Ellie Packer

Robert Gavron Charitable Trust

Rothschild Foundation

Rupert and Robin Hambro

Sir Siegmund Warburg's Voluntary Settlement

Spencer Wills Trust

Surrey County Council

Surrey Hills Leader

The de Laszlo Foundation

Wates Foundation

Welton Foundation

Wolfson Foundation

And all those who wish to remain anonymous.