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On Saturday 24 October we got the news from Arts Council England that we had received support from the Culture Recovery Fund. Well you can imagine our huge sense of relief!

London Transport Museum will be down at least £4 million by the end of this year from major losses to visitor income, retail sales, venue hire fees, corporate sponsorship and membership, but this investment has given us renewed hope. This is a big shot in the arm, both financially and in terms of our reputation and morale. Specifically, it means we can keep our doors open into the new year and continue our programmes for families, children, young people, design and transport enthusiasts and fans of London.

View of the Museum with two red double decker buses and a trolley bus

We must do much more than just stay in business; we can move more quickly into more digital strands of activity. Started before the virus struck, we have completed both a new shop online and a new website as a platform  for the Museum. Their crisp and beautiful designs were launched recently; behind this stylish façade the functionality of the sites is also radically improved and integrates our collections, information and commercial activities and allows you to cross seamlessly between these areas. So, for example, you can see the moquette seat on the train, find out about its designer and their other work for London Transport, and then buy the design as socks, scarf or face masks.

three face masks with moquette designs

Further, early in lockdown, we determined to be innovative. The virus has so damaged our business that we had to try different approaches. Chris Nix, Assistant Director of Collection and Engagement, led the Hidden London team at speed into the experiment of what has proved a very successful series of Hidden London Hangouts. With the support of experienced broadcaster Alex Grundon, these YouTube programmes are now in their second series and have over 40,000 viewings to date. This has enabled us to develop an international audience who can join a new virtual tour from the comfort of their own homes, even if it is three in the morning in California or Sydney. All this has been forced on us by Covid but pushed us to make rapid progress to keep ourselves alive and out there during difficult times.

Our work with young people will also continue thanks to the Culture Recovery Fund. In March, our Learning team moved quickly to take Route into Work, our skills and employability scheme for young people, online. Throughout April and May, and more recently September, 26 young people have taken part, with 16 going on to take part in assessment centres for apprenticeships with Bombardier, Siemens and TfL. Looking forward, we’ll continue to look at how this programme can be adapted, using our expertise to engage young people – a group hardest hit by the pandemic – and connect them to career opportunities in transport and engineering.

So, in conclusion, a huge thank you to Arts Council England, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and HM Treasury for this financial life belt. It will keep us on track through to Easter next year when we hope to be on firmer ground for the recovery of the family, group and mass experiences on road, rail and disused stations of which we are so proud.

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Sam Mullins OBE

About Sam Mullins, OBE

Sam Mullins has been the Director of London Transport Museum since 1994, and leads the development of the world’s premier museum of urban transport and place to ignite curiosity about the future. He is President of the International Association of Transport Museums (IATM), a trustee of ss Great Britain, Vice President of the Association of Independent Museums (AIM), and judge of the Museums and Heritage Show Awards for Excellence. Sam was awarded an OBE for services to London Transport Museum in the 2019 New Year’s Honours.