FACTSHEET

Birmingham Museums Trust’s (BMT) vision is to reflect to the world and the world to Birmingham using the city’s collection and museums to share what is unique about the culture and heritage of Birmingham in a global context.

Education is part of our charitable object and lies at the heart of our activity. Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery was set up in 1885 with the explicit aim of teaching the artisans of Birmingham to improve its manufactures by showing them the best in art and design. The focus may have changed, but using real objects for learning is still at the heart of what we do.

The City of Birmingham’s museum holdings represent one of the three great historic regional collections of the United Kingdom. The collection consists of over 800,000 objects, from the earliest fossils to Watt’s engines and 21st century conceptual art. Most of the collection is Designated as being of national significance. Six of our nine venues are Listed buildings, and one is a Scheduled Ancient Monument. BMT are the stewards of this extraordinary range of public assets.

BMT was set up as an independent charity to manage the city’s museum collection and venues in 2012. This is what we have achieved so far:

5m people have visited one of our nine museum sites. Over 950,000 people have taken parts in events and activities from circus school, to curatorial talks, community-led festivals, science busking, interactive story-telling and art classes. Nearly 500,000 local school children have expanded their knowledge of art, history, science and technology through engagement with Birmingham’s collections. 700 volunteers have contributed 13,000 days of their time to a value of nearly £1.5m We have engaged with over 500 community groups. Over 7.5m people have seen Birmingham’s collections on loan at local, national and international venues in Europe, Japan, Australia and the USA. 130,000 people follow our social media accounts on Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Pinterest, and YouTube. We gained over £20m in media exposure in local, regional and national press. Raised over £6m from public funds, trusts and foundations, donations, sponsorship and legacies. Each visit to one of Birmingham Museums' sites is worth around £30 to local businesses, with an annual economic value of £30m

Impact of proposed funding reduction Birmingham Museums Trust is one of the leading regional museums in the country. The city has entrusted BMT with the responsibility of caring for its collection and the buildings in which it is stored and displayed. It cares for a priceless collection and nine remarkable sites on behalf of the people of Birmingham.

In December, as part of Birmingham City Council’s budget consultation, it has been proposed that BMT will receive a reduction of £500K p/a in funding from April 2017. This is in addition to a cut of £250k that had been previously agreed by Birmingham City Council.

Budget cuts to BMT’s funding could result in: A substantial reduction in public access to some of our museums, which include Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, Thinktank Birmingham Science Museum, Hall, , Museum of the Jewellery Quarter, , and . Fewer learning activities for students, local schools and community groups Significantly reduced public access to Birmingham’s collection for both research and public enjoyment, either in the city or through outward loans Reduced capacity to deliver projects alone or in partnership.

Birmingham Museum Trust’s work BMT has a long-term commitment to learning and community engagement. Our three year Heritage Lottery Funded Collecting Birmingham project team work with local communities in the wards of Aston, Soho, and Ladywood. This engagement-led project aims to build a shared understanding of the stories of local people, places and events, collecting objects through donation and purchase to represent their experiences of growing up, living and working in the city.

Birmingham Museums has an outstanding track record of working for and with children and young people. Schools visits to all nine museum sites run at capacity. The Museum in a Box outreach scheme takes real museum objects to schools that are unable to visit. Thinktank’s Young Peoples Forum, Ignite, provides both work and social experience, supporting local young people in creating their own exhibitions and contributing to their museum.

BMT provides many opportunities for employment, training, career development, hosting work placements, paid internships and apprenticeships. Over 700 local volunteers contribute their time and skills to Birmingham Museums, for example by meeting and greeting visitors, working with archaeological finds, assisting with family activities, gardening, milling, and working with curators.

Birmingham Museums’ works with local charities and groups to give under-represented communities in Birmingham and the region a public voice to share their stories and experiences. For our new display Faith in Birmingham people from six major faith backgrounds volunteered time, lent objects and shared their expertise to create the gallery. In 2015/16 we launched Creative Carers, a programme for carers to engage with art and heritage as a respite from their challenging roles.

Public Support We are asking the public to demonstrate their support in the following ways: 1. By signing a petition, available at all of Birmingham Museums’ venues 2. By signing and sharing our online petition http://tinyurl.com/SupportBhamMuseums 3. Via Twitter @BM_AG #SupportBhamMuseums #BrumBudget17 4. Via Facebook https://www.facebook.com/BirminghamMuseumandArtGallery

For more on BMT see our 2015-16 Annual Report http://tinyurl.com/BMTreport1516

Birmingham City Council contribution We are increasingly entrepreneurial and our commercial is growing steadily. Of our £12m turnover in 2015/16, one-third is from Birmingham City Council. Over 60% of our income is self-generated from trading, admissions, education, events, and fundraising.

A significant cut in local authority support at this stage in the BMT’ history would damage our ability to grow the business and earn a greater proportion of our income in future. It would lead to a reduction in our opening hours, learning, engagement and outreach programmes. Our ability to develop and care for the city’s great collection and share it with visitors, not just in Birmingham but in museums and galleries across the world, would be compromised.

The full budget consultation details are here: https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/brumbudget17