A BID to save the Christchurch Museum of Electricity received a welcome boost.

The Mission Ignition group, launched to re-invent the beloved museum as a science and engin-eering discovery centre, were delighted by the support shown to them at the Stompin’ on the Quomps music festival at the weekend.

The group had a stall set up on Christchurch Quay to inform people about the venture and also allow youngsters to take part in some fun experiments.

In December 2012 SSE announced they would be closing the museum “indefinitely” as they could not afford the development works to keep the attraction running.

But following a meeting with a with a handful of local people, including the then-Mayor of Christchurch, Cllr Peter Hall, SSE agreed the local community would be included in future plans.

“People were genuinely shocked when they heard that SSE closed the popular museum last year and in just one afternoon over 200 people signed up to support Mission Ignition”, said Dr Jan Peters, one of the people leading the steering group.

“It was lovely to see such a wide age range of people, from toddlers through to 80-year olds, having fun with non-Newtonian fluids, a vortex, and an experiment with cornflower.

“Tossing Toast was a particularly popular experiment and although probably not meeting the scientific standards required by The Royal Society, it did cause a lot more laughs. Hopefully everyone went home having learnt something and, for the record, 59 per cent of tossed toast landed butter-side down.

“Re-invented as a Science and Engineering Discovery Centre, we believe that not only can we preserve a really important part of Christ-church’s engineering heritage, but we can also engage and interest people in the science and engineering.“ A survey to gauge public support for the bid is now available at mission-ignition.com.