Glasgow, 27 November 2025 – The Robert Burns Ellisland Trust (RBET) launches its international fundraising campaign tonight at a special event in Glasgow, just ahead of St Andrew’s Day, to save the historic farm where Robert Burns wrote Auld Lang Syne and more than a quarter of his entire body of work.
‘The Saving the Home of Auld Lang Syne‘ campaign seeks to raise £12mn to restore the only home built by Burns, safeguard a collection of national importance, and create a world-class cultural destination in Dumfriesshire that connects the poet’s legacy with contemporary creativity.
Collective Architecture, an employee-owned practice known for the quality of their conservation projects, are currently working on detailed plans to restore and revive the site, with completed designs due to be revealed in early 2026.
The Robert Burns Ellisland Trust
The launch marks another milestone for The Robert Burns Ellisland Trust, which was formed in 2020 to save the site, and has made substantial progress in engaging the public, including recreating the site in Minecraft, developing income-generating holiday accommodation and restoring the ‘Burns Family Flute’ in its collection, so it could be played after centuries of silence.
Ellisland achieved official museum accreditation in 2023, and the charity has received financial support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, South of Scotland Enterprise, Museums Galleries Scotland, The Architectural Heritage Fund and the Holywood Trust to develop restoration plans.
Ellisland Farm a heritage hub
The launch event, hosted at Collective Architecture’s Glasgow studio, will feature the premiere of a specially commissioned film produced by Edinburgh filmmakers Stroma, featuring Scotland’s national Makar, Peter Mackay, and the former Poet Laureate of Jamaica, Lorna Goodison, who recently completed a Scottish Poetry Library residency at Ellisland. Gerard Carruthers, Francis Hutcheson Professor of Scottish Literature at the University of Glasgow, and one of the world’s leading Burns scholars, contributes to the film and will speak at the event.
The film introduces audiences to Ellisland’s exceptional cultural and historic significance as the birthplace of Auld Lang Syne and the place chosen by Burns, aged 29, to build his family home. It makes the case for urgent action to preserve the at-risk farmstead.
An evening of music and song will accompany the screening, led by acclaimed vocalist Robyn Stapleton, and featuring the recently restored flute belonging to Robert Burns’s son. There will also be a welcome from the Lord Provost of Glasgow reflecting the campaign’s significance as a national endeavour.
Need of conservation
Despite its heritage significance, Ellisland faces serious challenges. The Category A listed building near Dumfries was designed and built by Burns himself as a home for Jean Armour and their children, but it has suffered from years of damp, decay and structural deterioration. A 2021 conservation study funded by Historic Environment Scotland confirmed that the buildings could not safely house the museum’s collection without extensive repair and restoration.
The time Burns spent at Ellisland was his most productive period. It was here that he wrote Tam o Shanter, My Heart’s in the Highlands, Banks and Braes, and more than a quarter of his total output.
The home of ‘Auld Lang Syne’
By far his most famous work written at Ellisland is Auld Lang Syne, a song that has become woven into the fabric of global culture, carried around the world by Scots emigrating in the 19th century. The song became particularly popular in the USA and the association between New Year’s Eve and Auld Lang Syne became embedded in American culture in the early part of the 20th century. However, most people who sing it don’t know it was written at this scenic Dumfriesshire farm, beside the River Nith.
Duncan Dornan, Chair of the RBET
Duncan, who was previously Head of Museums and Collections at Glasgow Life and led the £68mn Burrell Renaissance, said:
“Tonight marks the beginning of an ambitious campaign to secure the future of a site of international cultural significance. Having led the Burrell Renaissance, I know what can be achieved when vision meets determination and commitment.
“Ellisland has that same potential to become both a national landmark and a source of enduring inspiration. This is our opportunity to preserve the home where the world’s most famous song was born and ensure it thrives for generations to come.”
As well as leading the Burrell Renaissance redevelopment, which received the Art Fund Museum of the Year in 2023, Dornan was previously General Manager at The National Museum of Rural Life. As current Chair of Museums Galleries Scotland, he brings expertise in ensuring Scotland’s heritage organisations achieve the highest standards of excellence and sustainability.
Joan McAlpine
Joan, a former MSP for South Scotland and previously Convenor of the Scottish Parliament’s Culture Committee has led the development of Ellisland as Project Director since 2021. She was previously chair of the Trust set up to save Ellisland. Ms McAlpine said:
“This campaign is about reconnecting people with the landscape and creativity that shaped Burns’s greatest works. Over the past few years, we’ve undertaken extensive research and consultation to understand what Ellisland needs structurally, and to explore what it could become. It quickly became clear to us that we had to find a way to also make the site sustainable – generating income to support the heritage and culture.
“This site has immense potential as both a cultural destination and an engine for regional economic regeneration. We’re building a place where today’s artists and musicians can find inspiration in the same surroundings that gave us Auld Lang Syne, while creating sustainable opportunities for our local community and visitors from around the world.”
In September 2024, The National Lottery Heritage Fund awarded the Robert Burns Ellisland Trust almost £500,000 support to develop and take forward their plans for securing the future historic farm. The development funding is the initial stage towards the Trust securing up to £1.6mn of Heritage Fund delivery support.
The Trust’s ambitious restoration plans will recreate the farmhouse as Burns and Jean knew it, drawing on newly discovered material from the Rosebery family’s ‘Barnbougle Papers’ – 1788 shopping lists detailing everything from furniture and floorboards to seeds for the kitchen garden. The project will also reimagine the threshing barn as a Centre for Song and an education resource, establish an environmentally controlled museum space for the collection, and enhance the landscape’s biodiversity.
A key aspect of the project is the creation of sensitive visitor accommodation based on ‘The Hermitage’ a tiny summerhouse in the neighbouring Friars Carse estate where Burns would retreat to write in peace among nature. The project will create bespoke ‘hermitages’, scattered across the 140-acre estate, where artists and writers can work, but which will also provide income from visitors to sustain the historic site and collection.
Project Curator, Adam Dickson:
“The Ellisland collection is hugely important, but it’s under threat from environmental conditions that make proper care impossible. We are still making discoveries, the Barnbougle Papers, for example, have given us unprecedented insight into how Burns furnished his home and managed his farm. Creating a dedicated museum space will deepen our understanding of Burns’s creative process and his life with Jean and their family at Ellisland, while also providing new, valuable opportunities for visitors to experience this important place.”
A recent independent economic study by BiGGAR Economics demonstrates the project’s transformative potential for the region. Once fully operational, the restored site is projected to support 65 local jobs annually and attract around 17,000 visits each year, with approximately £576,000 spent annually with local suppliers through community wealth building. Beyond direct economic impact, the report estimates £4.7mn in annual wellbeing value through improved health, learning opportunities, and cultural enjoyment. The construction phase alone will support approximately 40 year-long jobs and inject £2.8mn into local spending, with ongoing operations generating £1.5mn circulating annually in the Dumfries and Galloway economy.
Jane Morrison-Ross, CEO of South of Scotland Enterprise:
“This project exemplifies heritage-led regeneration at its very best. The independent analysis shows significant economic potential, but the real story is about sustainable jobs, increased tourism, and keeping cultural investment circulating in Dumfries and Galloway. Ellisland has the potential to anchor economic growth across the region while celebrating the creativity that makes Scotland distinctive.”
The appeal extends globally, with the Trust working alongside the American-Scottish Foundation to engage the Scottish diaspora through appearances at Tartan Week events in early 2026 and digital campaigns reaching Burns enthusiasts worldwide. They are also seeking to engage further with statutory funders, trusts, foundations and individuals in Scotland and the UK.
The 12-minute long campaign film will premiere online on 28 November 2025, and can be viewed at Ellisland Farm.
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