Venice in Peril - The British Committee for the preservation of Venice

The Venice in Peril Fund, the British charity for the protection of Venice, was created after the great flood of 1966 when the waters rose to nearly two metres above mean sea level. Since then the Fund has disbursed millions of pounds for the restoration of Venetian monuments, buildings and works of art. It is clear, however, that the underlying threat to the city’s physical survival remains the sea. Flooding is becoming a regular and destructive feature of life in Venice. In the first decade of the 20th century, St Mark's Square flooded less than ten times a year. By the 1980s, flooding was occurring 40 times a year and between September 2000 and March 2001 alone, over 40 floodings were recorded.

The question of how to protect the city is a very complex one, involving delicate matters regarding the use and abuse of the lagoon, climate change, types of possible barriers, and subsidence. Your Help is needed!

Venice in Peril helps by financing studies and publications that help sort out these complex issues and make the research about them better known to the layperson as well as to the international scientific community.

We must carry on with funding restorations. This is our gesture of love for Venice, and is also a vital contribution. Italy is home to thousands and thousands of historic monuments and works of art, and there is never enough public money to go around.

Venice has a dwindling population and one of the reasons for this is a shortage of affordable housing. Venice in Peril has adopted an ordinary house to see how it can be sensitively converted into for flats for Venetians. Lastly, we believe in education; we fund conservation bursaries: we arrange conferences about the problems facing the city and lectures on aspects of Venetian life and history.

If all who love Venice and believe she is worth saving play their part, we shall succeed in this great endeavour. If you have been happy in Venice, have experienced her magic, feel the world would be a diminished place without her; if in short you want to help save Venice, then please make a donation or remember Venice in peril in your will.

Venice in Peril
Unit 4, Hurlingham Studios
Ranelagh Gardens
London SW6 3PA
Telephone: 0207 736 6891
email: info@veniceinperil.org
website: www.veniceinperil.org

(photographs by Sarah Quill)