Supported by London Transport Museum 2008/09 Museum Yearbook London Transport Covent Garden Piazza London SW1H 0TL Tel. +44 (20) 7379 6344 London Transport Museum Ltd London’s journey – past, present and future Charity number 1123122 Company number 6495761 Registered address: Windsor House 42–50 Victoria Street London SW1H 0TL London Transport Museum (Trading) Ltd Company number 6527755 Registered address: Windsor House 42–50 Victoria Street London SW1H 0TL Yearbook 2008/09 ltmuseum.co.uk London Transport Museum London’s journey – past, present and future Yearbook 2008/09 05 Message from the Chair of Trustees London Transport Museum is and Chief Executive an educational and heritage 07 Introduction preservation charity whose 09 Education and engagement purpose is to conserve and Encouraging safety and citizenship Mind the skills gap explain London’s transport 17 Access and museum operations heritage. It offers people The power of objects an understanding of the User-generated content Capital’s past development 23 Heritage and collections and engages them in the Getting communities talking debate about its future. The art of the poster 31 Future plans Future generator: the results 37 Income and support 44 Performance review 46 Statement of accounts 48 Public programme 51 Trustees and advisors Message from the Chair of Trustees and Chief Executive Sir David Bell and Sam Mullins, LTM We are delighted to present the first Outstanding among the year’s many other London Transport Museum (LTM) Yearbook events were topical debates about the role of to celebrate our wide-ranging work for the transport in creating environmentally sustainable benefit of the Capital, based in a freshly cities. Our new Thought leadership programme redesigned museum in Covent Garden. engages pre-eminent transport, urban planning, and infrastructure experts on issues such as the In addition to presenting an overview of the engineering skills gap, urban development and charity’s activities, this Yearbook includes seven new ways of working. As public transport forms short articles which offer a closer look at specific the lifeblood of major cities across the world, aspects of the Museum’s work. LTM seeks to share thinking about transport issues and be a place where new ideas can The 18 months since LTM reopened in November be tested. We seek not only to present our 2007 have seen the Museum bedded down – own knowledge, but to be a venue where the a new charity governance model instituted, a new knowledge of others is disseminated and debated. Visitor Services team installed, the mounting of four special exhibitions, the publication of a Future projects include World city: stories top-selling book, the regular running of heritage from London. This programme of community trains and buses, the implementation of new and youth engagement for London’s Cultural styles of engagement and collecting, and the Olympiad will look at how journeys to and creation of a Thought leadership programme. within London shape identity and a sense of It has been a remarkably fruitful period where place across the Capital. In partnership with the LTM has proved to be a platform for influence London Museums Hub, it will culminate in a well beyond the confines of Covent Garden. major exhibition in 2012, London journeys, and We are a museum at the heart of London and will be closely followed by Underground 150 in one of its success stories. 2013, marking the anniversary of the world’s first underground railway opened in 1863. LTM’s progress since reopening can be seen in its record visitor numbers and increased public As always, we are grateful for the partnerships engagement, both on-site and online. By the that enable us to broaden our funding base and close of July 2009, over 500,000 visits had been extend the Museum’s reach more widely across made to the new Museum, 302,000 of those in London. We would like to express our gratitude 2008/09. This represents almost 50% more than to all our supporters and funders within Transport the annual average of 209,000 in the decade for London (TfL), the Museum, Libraries and before the Museum closed for refurbishment Archives (MLA) Council’s Renaissance in the in 2005. We are proud of the new Museum’s Regions initiative, LTM Friends and our many achievements and the recognition we have corporate and charitable sponsors. received for the whole spectrum of our work, from exhibitions and marketing to education Our staff and volunteers also deserve our sincere and visitor services. thanks for their outstanding work in making the new LTM such a success. We look forward to an The year’s full and varied programme included exciting future for the Museum and to welcoming The art of the poster exhibition, which looked at the many people who visit and support us. the artworks behind LTM’s much-loved collection of classic posters. This major exhibition was well received by both press and public. The Spectator praised it as ‘a real oasis among the alarms and excursions of London today’. 04 Message from the Chair of Trustees and Chief Executive 05 London Transport Education and engagement Led by the Museum’s Learning Museum’s mission is department, our education and to collect and share engagement activities deliver innovative learning opportunities to a wide range of knowledge about the key audiences through on-site activities and a role of transport in the variety of outreach programmes off-site. development of London’s Access and museum operations Led by the Visitor Services department, past, present and future. our access and museum operations make the collection available for the enjoyment of people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds. This is accomplished through the permanent displays in LTM galleries, special events at the Depot in Acton and extensive online resources. Heritage and collections Led by the Collections department, our heritage and collections work involves preserving, managing, researching and acquiring transport-related objects and information. The public use of this material is made possible through exhibitions, heritage vehicle outings and other collections-based activities. Future plans LTM aims to maintain user numbers by mounting a major exhibition every year, develop our online content, increase young people’s engagement with engineering and remain a venue for thinking about London’s future. 06 Introduction 07 Education and engagement 08 Education and engagement 09 Education and engagement LTM Learning department offers a range of educational opportunities inside the Museum and throughout the community. Our on-site schools programme hosted 24,000 pupils in 2008/09. The programme addresses the needs of students and teachers by creatively linking the Museum’s collections to diverse topics including art, history, design, technology and engineering. The Safety & Citizenship programme engages primary and secondary school pupils through interactive sessions. These build the practical skills required to use London’s public transport system, including how to avoid dangers, dealing with emergencies and getting help. Our audience development team delivers a vibrant and diverse programme for groups that face barriers to museum engagement. Outreach activities such as reminiscence sessions with older people and storytelling for children at community centres across London attracted nearly 3000 participants. Six interactive projects with community groups produced an in-depth series of exhibitions and videos. LTM library supported 600 visitors conducting independent research on public transport issues. Whether they were authors, family historians or visitors inspired to dig a bit deeper, the library service assisted them in gaining the most relevant access to our large store of primary and secondary sources of transport information. A significant new approach to schools began in 2008. It was inspired by TfL’s Skills and Employment Strategy, which identified a shortfall of engineers in the UK. In response, LTM developed a set of inspirational hands-on activities for young people. Over 500 students took part in a trial programme which allowed them to meet engineers from TfL, explore career paths and educational options, and participate in a unique engineering challenge called ‘Eggsperiment’. Ninety-five percent of the participants stated that the event increased their understanding of engineering and we are actively seeking to find partners to expand this area of engagement in the future. 10 Education and engagement 11 This year the Museum joined forces with leading law firm Eversheds to launch a new Thought leadership programme for industry professionals. This annual series of thought-provoking and challenging events enables industry colleagues to come together and debate issues affecting their business. It was launched in March 2009 with Mind the skills gap chaired by TfL Commissioner Peter Hendy. Subsequent sessions included Technology and changing travel behaviours chaired by Steven Norris and De-carbonisation and you chaired by David Quarmby. Future sessions in 2009 will cover Funding transport, High-speed rail and Intercity travel. 12 Education and engagement 13 Encouraging safety and citizenship Mind the Skills Gap Chris Nix, LTM Hillary Alexander, Arup One of LTM’s most far-reaching The team engages the children in a variety Why is it that 50% of engineering Industry experts at Mind the Skills Gap of ways. Role-play is used to get young people brainstormed a variety of solutions and educational activities is the Safety thinking about different scenarios they might graduates do not go into industry suggestions that might rectify the problem. & Citizenship programme, which encounter, including how others might experience after graduating? This may be a good time to encourage students promotes safe, responsible and their behaviour. Structured discussion offers a to give engineering another look. Even in the forum for debate and asking questions. We also That was one of the issues delegates discussed difficult economic climate, infrastructure respectful behaviour on London’s work in schools where children are experiencing in March 2009 at the first in a series of Thought construction is predicting a record 7% growth transport network.