A community event which gave local artists a chance to showcase their talents raised £5,000 for a cherished cultural project.

Music, art and poetry flourished across Pinner from late September to early October, all organised by a group of volunteers who were designer Colin Robinson, textile artist Jeannine Lawder, musician Lis Warren and poet and writer Phil Lawder.

The team’s aim was to use the inaugural Pinner Arts Week as a way of raising money for the Heath Robinson Museum, in Pinner Memorial Park, which will be opened in an extension to West House.

Mrs Lawder said: “Some people were wary, but many others were with us from the start. Then it snowballed.”

The week saw 37 events in 14 different locations around Pinner and money was collected in the form of donations and admission fees.

Mrs Warren said: “It was wonderful to have such support, not only from so many highly creative local artists, musicians and speakers but also from shops, halls, churches and individuals.

“This was a real community event.”

The money will support the ongoing displays by the group of artist William Heath Robinson, who lived in Moss Lane, Pinner from 1908 until his death in 1944 and is best known for his humorous drawings of convoluted contraptions for simple tasks.

The illustrator's son-in-law donated more than 500 pieces of his work to the group behind the West House project for public display.

Martin Verden, chairman of the West House and Heath Robinson Trust, accepted the £5,000 donation on Monday.

He said: “The fact that nearly 3,500 people were involved in the dozens of events over a relatively short period was proof, if indeed such was needed, that there is an enthusiastic appetite for the arts throughout our borough.”

Mr Verden and his fellow trust members secured £1.3million from the Heritage Lottery Fund in December last year to build the new museum.

The campaigners themselves have raised hundreds of thousands of pounds themselves through charity and community events to support their lottery bid.

Planning for a second Pinner Arts Week is now underway.