The latest annual Museums Association (MA) members survey for 2025/26 has been published, shedding light on the condition of the sector across the UK. 705 responses were recieved from people working in or with museums. This latest survey shows that the financial pressures on museums of all types and sizes remained high in 2025/26. This…
Category: museums
Cross-party Praise for Smaller Museums in Westminster Hall Debate
On the 6 March a Westminster Hall Debate was held on the contibution of local museums to the UK. The debate was called by the Labour MP for Thurrock, Jen Craft, who highlighted the positive impact of her borough’s “fantastic local museums”, but also the challenges they are facing due to limited funding and the…
Spring Online Seminars from AIM
The spring series of online seminars from the Association of Independant Museums (AIM) are now booking. AIM run regular events for members and non-members, in-person and online, designed for those working with and for independent museums. The Spring 2026 online seminars include a number relevant to industrial heritage sites such as: The AIM Conference 2026…
UK Government Announces Five Year £1.5 Billion Investment in the Cultural Sector
The UK Government has announced that £1.5 billion will be invested in the culture sector (including arts venues, museums, libraries, and heritage buildings) in England over five years in order to prevent closures and address urgent capital needs. The support includes more than £100 million of new monies specifically earmarked for local museums (many of which…
Science Museum Group & RICHeS Survey – Empowering Safety
The Science Museum Group is running a Collections Hazards project, ‘Empowering Safety‘, funded by RICHeS (the UK’s Research Infrastructure for Conservation and Heritage Science). The ‘Empowering Safety’ project aims to increase knowledge and guidance around hazards in museum collections through targetted training, which is especially relevant for industrial heritage sites. As part of the project…
The National Lottery Heritage Fund: Museum Collections, Storage, Access, and Resilience Research
The National Lottery Heritage Fund is working with Heather Lomas and Emma Chaplin to research the current landscape for UK museum collections, including industrial heritage collections. The research focuses on how collections are stored, acquired, and rationalised, as well as the extent to which stored collections are accessible to the public. The findings will directly…
Research on Land and Outdoor Spaces Management for Museums Published
New research published by AIM, the Welsh Government, Arts Council England, and NMDC, explores the opportunities and challenges presented by museum land and outdoor spaces. The report includes two industrial museum case studies (Greenfield Heritage Park and Wheal Martyn), as well as a toolkit that allows museums and heritage organisations to start putting the recommendations…
Museum Development England’s Annual Museum Survey Published for 2025
The Annual Museum Survey undertaken by Museum Development England provides insights into the sector’s health as well as the challenges and opportunities it is facing. By benchmarking data generated every year, it has been possible to spotlight past and current trends such as the impact of the pandemic on volunteering and finances. Earlier this year Museum Development England published the Annual Museums…
Goole Museum Looking for Memories of Town’s Shipbuilding Past
East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s Goole Museum is looking for memories, photographs, and objects that tell the story of an East Yorkshire town’s shipbuilding history. The Goole-Built exhibition hopes to feature photographs of shipyard workers and show artefacts such as tools, apprenticeship indentures, and union cards. The exhibition is planned to run from 10 January…
Register for Next London Transport Museum Heritage Skills Seminar
There is still time (just!) to register for the next installment of the London Transport Museum’s ‘Heritage Skills Seminar’ series taking place on Thursday 30 October 2025. You can register your interest in attending in-person on the 24th October by emailing Smauel Carter at Samuel.Carter@ltmuseum.co.uk This seminar aims to bring together people working with transport…
Industrial Heritage Support 