Museums are among our most valuable cultural and educational assets. They preserve our history, natural history and art. They improve our quality of life and contribute to a wide range of educational opportunities for people of all ages and interests. I know how powerful and necessary museums are in helping us to interpret our culture and our environment. They are also tremendous fun! Anybody who has visited the superb museums in Hampshire knows how successfully they reach out to new audiences offering a fine balance of education and entertainment, as well as access to a magnificent range of collections.

It is to help sustain and develop these rich assets that I give my personal support to the Hampshire Museums Trust. I have seen the Trust grow from its first modest support for Andover Museum to the great fund-raising campaign which has contributed so much to the museum fit-out of Milestones. We want to build on this success and reach out still further to offer an even greater variety of activities, based on museums throughout the county, to a still wider range of people.

Learning, in its widest and most fulfilling sense, lies at the heart of every museum's aspirations. The opportunities for museums to provide even more personal satisfaction for their many users and visitors are boundless. I hope that everyone who reads this strategy will agree that we have the vision and know how we can achieve it; and that you will want to help us.

Professor Barry Cunliffe