BURY'S Fusiliers have hit the jackpot that will turn a dream into a reality.

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has finally released a £2 million grant after Fusiliers' Museum Appeal campaigners raised the extra £1.4 million needed to create the state-of-the-art facility in the former Arts and Craft centre in Broad Street.

The project can now move on and will see the museum ready to open at the end of 2008.

Colonel Brian Gorski, the project leader, said "This news is fantastic!

"We have worked very hard over a long period to secure Heritage Lottery funding. The success we have achieved is a tribute to all the people who have contributed so much as well as to the quality of the project.

"The remaining costs of £1.4million have been raised through a fundraising appeal which has been supported by Bury Council, the regiment, charitable trusts, businesses and many private individuals."

The project is seen by both the Fusilier Regiment and the charitable company that will run the museum as being as much about providing a cultural and community facility as it is about preserving the history of the four regiments involved.

The existing Fusiliers' museum in Bolton Road, which has an excellent regimental collection dating back to the 17th century, including artefacts belonging to General Wolfe and Emperor Napoleon, will be transfered to the Arts and Crafts Centre following a major refurbishment of the building.

The new museum will collect and display historical artefacts, stories and documents related to both the Lancashire Fusiliers and of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers - who were created in 1968 when the Lancashire, Warwickshire, Northumberland and Royal Fusiliers were amalgamated.

It will be a lively centre for regular events and for workshops, lectures, demonstrations and family activities. The displays will be modern, friendly and interactive.

Whilst the museum is essentially independent, it will continue to receive financial support from both the Ministry of Defence and the Regiment and will make up the remaining gap in its income through commercial activities which will include café, retail and room lettings. Bury Council has also leased the building to the Fusiliers over 125 years for a peppercorn rent.

The Council Chamber, which will be sited in the former boardroom of the Arts and Crafts centre, will be dressed with regimental insignia and silver and is expected to be a popular venue for local business meetings, lunches and dinners Bury Council's Chief Executive Mark Sanders said: "Bury has supported this project enthusiastically from the beginning, building on the longstanding bond between the town and the regiment. The redevelopment of the museum in one of Bury's best loved buildings in the heart of the cultural quarter fits with our vision for making Bury a better place for everyone"

The new Fusiliers' Museum will sit alongside the recently refurbished Bury Arts Gallery and Museum, which was also funded by HLF, and a project currently underway to refurbish the Bury Transport Museum which HLF are also supporting. It is planned that the three will work together in partnership on integrated events, activities and marketing.

All three are located close to the popular East Lancashire Railway in the heart of Bury and will make a significant impact on the heritage appeal of the town.