The Air Force Museum has been working with heritage and cultural organisations since February 2011, assisting with the salvage and interim storage of significant local collections damaged and/or displaced due to the earthquakes. Museum staff have assisted organisations ranging from Lyttelton and Canterbury museums to Ngāi Tahu, CoCA, The Press, and the Hebrew community. The Air Force Museum Trust Board has just constructed a $14.3 million extension and agreed to delay its own occupancy, instead making 4,500m2 in this building available at no charge for collection storage and recovery work for a period of three years.

Thérèse will talk about the Museum's experience through the earthquake, the recovery and salvage of cultural collections, the way in which the Museum was able to help the community and plans for the Recovery Centre itself.