A third of staff at a museum that celebrates British wartime codebreakers at Bletchley Park face redundancy because of the coronavirus pandemic. A trust that runs the museum said it expected to lose about £2m this year and 95% of its income from March to July. It is proposing a restructuring that includes a possible 35 redundancies – about a third of the workforce – to cut costs. In a message to staff on Friday, Bletchley Park’s chief executive, Iain Standen, said: “It is with deep regret that I am informing you today that the trust needs to cut jobs. We have built a very successful heritage attraction and museum at Bletchley Park and its principal strength is its people. “However, the economic impact of the current crisis is having a profound effect on the trust’s ability to survive. We have exhausted all other avenues, and we need to act now to ensure that the trust survives and is sustainable in the future.” The museum features Enigma machines used by the Nazis to generate code. It also houses giant computers designed by the mathematician Alan Turing to crack those codes. A new visitor centre was built in 2011 with the aid of a £5m lottery grant. The work of codebreakers at Bletchley Park, who were sworn to secrecy for decades, is estimated to have shortened the second world war by two years and saved thousands of lives. It is credited as the birthplace of modern computing and houses Colossus, the world’s first programmable digital electronic computer and main codebreaking engine. The last surviving Colossus machine was rebuilt by a team of volunteers and completed in 1996, after the Bletchley Park Trust was formed in 1992 to preserve and develop the estate itself. News of the trust’s financial crisis prompted calls for tech giants to help bail out Bletchley. Relatives of the codebreakers who worked at the converted Buckinghamshire country house have also pledged support. Eleanor Preston tweeted: “My granny worked at Bletchley. I wish you and all your staff the best. I hope you can continue telling the incredibly story of the people who worked there.” Twitter user Max Ess said: “Sorry to hear this. My mother was posted there in 1944. Only told us about it over 40 years later. I have visited twice. Very good experience. I will make a donation.”