The Glasgow Herald is offering its readers a chance to help save an important part of the city’s heritage as it launches a campaign in partnership with the city council.

The appeal aims to raise £300,000 to help a museum buy a panel that was the focal point of the famous Willow Tearooms on Sauchiehall Street.

The panel of plasterwork piped on to a hessian surface was made by Margaret Macdonald, the wife of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, and is considered to be one of the finest examples of her work.

The paper is encouraging readers to sign up for the appeal as well attending a launch at Kelvingrove museum, which has had the panel in its care for the last 20 years.

A court decided, however, that the panel belonged to the firm that redeveloped the premises when it was removed from the property, and was now part of the portfolio of London Regional Transport’s pension fund.

The fund agreed to sell the work for “a fair price” but the money has to be raised by the end of June.

On the open market the panel would probably be “lost” to a US buyer for a higher price than is being asked of the museum.

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