The National Portrait Gallery in London has been given its biggest ever private donation of money in the shape of £5m from the American billionaire owner of Aston Villa Football Club, Randy Lerner. About half the gift, to be given over three years, will help beef up the gallery's acquisitions budget while the rest will be used on other programmes including digitising the collection, educational initiatives and outreach schemes in schools, colleges and hospitals. Sandy Nairne, the NPG's director and a friend of Lerner, called it a "fantastic" donation. "It is an issue, how we can succeed in getting more philanthropy into the cultural sector. We need to encourage those lucky enough to be able to give and also put the money to good use," he said. Nairne added that he now had an Aston Villa scarf on his desk and, yes, they were now his team. "I grew up with Rugby Union and rowing to be honest." The NPG's ground floor spaces will be renamed the Lerner Galleries thanks to the gift which, technically, comes from the Lerner Foundation, led by the family of Lerner's father Alfred Lerner, who died in 2002. Lerner said: "On behalf of my mother and sister it is an enormous privilege to express our support for the National Portrait Gallery financially. We are enthusiastic supporters of the gallery's director and the board for their inspired and creative management of the gallery's collection and acquisition programme."
Lerner bought the Birmingham club for £62m in 2006 from Doug Ellis and unlike other American owners at clubs such as Manchester United and Liverpool, his stewardship has been widely praised and welcomed by fans. For all his high-profile acquisition, Lerner is often said to be quietly spoken and shy of publicity. He rarely allows TV or radio interviews, apparently because of the way his comments following a tragedy involving a near family relative, were used by American broadcasters. In the US, it is far more commonplace for philanthropists to give big chunks of money to the arts, a practice that many would like to see more ingrained in the UK. Lerner, who also owns the Cleveland Browns American football club, also gives to medical charities in the Cleveland area. Lerner becomes the second premier league chairman to donate substantially to the arts. The Royal Academy in London has named some of its space the John Madejski Fine Rooms after the Reading chairman donated £3m.
Lerner bought the Birmingham club for £62m in 2006 from Doug Ellis and unlike other American owners at clubs such as Manchester United and Liverpool, his stewardship has been widely praised and welcomed by fans. For all his high-profile acquisition, Lerner is often said to be quietly spoken and shy of publicity. He rarely allows TV or radio interviews, apparently because of the way his comments following a tragedy involving a near family relative, were used by American broadcasters. In the US, it is far more commonplace for philanthropists to give big chunks of money to the arts, a practice that many would like to see more ingrained in the UK. Lerner, who also owns the Cleveland Browns American football club, also gives to medical charities in the Cleveland area. Lerner becomes the second premier league chairman to donate substantially to the arts. The Royal Academy in London has named some of its space the John Madejski Fine Rooms after the Reading chairman donated £3m.
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