©InfoThe Balfour Museum tells the story of the Red Cross, particularly focusing on the work of the Hampshire Branch volunteers from 1909 to today.
The museum has display galleries, a resource library and a refreshment area. It also has a growing programme of outreach activities.
The museum preserves the history of the Red Cross in Hampshire and engages with our communities to inform, educate and inspire future generations to become good humanitarians.
Contact and opening hours
Our outreach programme
The Balfour Museum’s history
Contact and opening hours
The Balfour Museum
Red Cross House
Winnall Close
Winnall
Winchester
Hampshire
SO23 0LB
Telephone: +44 (0)1962 891660
Fax: +44 (0)1962 869 721
Email: BalfourMuseum@redcross.org.uk
Open Monday to Friday, 10am to 4pm
Not open Bank Holidays
Group visits welcomed by appointment
Admission free
Limited free parking is available.
We have wheelchair access, a shop and light refreshments.
The museum has a growing programme of outreach activities. Our collections and archive material are used dynamically to engage with our communities – to inform, educate and inspire future generations to become good humanitarians
We are constantly developing new resources and facilities to meet a growing demand from a wide range of organisations.
Our services and activities currently include the following:
- oral history archive
- school loans service
- special commemorative projects
- travelling exhibitions and displays
- group visits, talks and presentations.
Oral history archive
Where possible, we interview and record personal testimonies about people’s experiences of the Red Cross, including our volunteers, members of the public and those who have received humanitarian aid. These individual memories enhance the presentation and interpretation of our history.
If you have any stories or memories you would like to share, please contact us.
School loans service
Being able to touch original objects to interpret history is incredibly valuable. Working with local schools, we have developed a loans box service. These are also used by disabled groups, particularly those with impaired vision or learning difficulties, so they can engage with history on a more personal level.
If you are interested in using our loan boxes, please contact us.
Special commemorative projects
We have a programme of projects commemorating the anniversaries of events that hold a particular relevance to the Red Cross. This can include events that have international as well as local significance.
In recent years we have commemorated the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, the 50th anniversary of the Hungarian refugee crisis and the 70th anniversary of the Basque refugee crisis.
Travelling exhibitions and displays
We loan out exhibitions and displays containing interpretive material, together with original objects and items from the collection. These are also frequently used by the museum and other Red Cross services at conferences, shows and events.
If you are interested in learning more about how to borrow our exhibitions and displays, please contact us.
Group visits, talks and presentations
Our speakers regularly give talks and presentations on a range of themes related to the history of the Red Cross. We can also organise visits to the museum and a tour of our stores and other services for groups.
If you would like to arrange a group visit to the museum, please contact us.
The Balfour Museum takes its name from Miss Elizabeth Balfour OBE, who was director of the Red Cross’ Hampshire Branch between 1946 and 1991. During her time as director, she realised that the Branch’s history and work should be preserved and commemorated with the creation of a museum.
With the help of a small team of volunteers, we started gathering material and the planning process. Building work began in 1993. After completing alterations and improvements to the Branch headquarters in Winchester, a new museum building – together with a range of supporting facilities and a commemorative garden – was opened in 1994.
The collections grew rapidly with archival material, photographs, medals, uniforms and precious mementoes generously donated by members and friends.
The Balfour Museum today
The site was sold in 2002 and the Balfour Museum had to close, but it reopened a year later as part of a new headquarters building on the other side of Winchester.
Today the museum has display galleries that tell the story of the Red Cross. There is also a resource area containing books, an audio archive, and film and research material.
The Balfour Museum is a member of the Association of Independent Museums and an institutional member of the Museums Association. It has a part-time manager/curator and is supported by a small team of volunteers.
Miss Balfour financed the museum from the beginning. Although she died in 1998, the museum and all its related activities continue to be financed entirely by the Balfour Trust.
Find out more about the Red Cross' history