National Museum of Wales

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This section of Child Poverty Solutions online contains relevant information and links for the National Museum of Wales to tackle child poverty.

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Child Poverty Strategy

Download National Museaum of Wales child poverty strategy Transforming Children's Futures

This section

The National Museum of Wales was incorporated by a Royal Charter in 1907. It now consists of The National Museum Cardiff, The National Slate Museum, The National Wool Museum, The National Roman Legion Museum, St Fagans Natural History Museum, The National Waterfront Museum and Big Pit National Mining Museum. Altogether however, there are approximately 87 museums in Wales that now meet the UK Accreditation Standard for museums.The Welsh Government view of our museums service that

“Museums help to ensure that the people of Wales are confident about, and proud of, their heritage. They encourage active participation in culture, protect our heritage, help expand our international profile and contribute to our tourism industry.”

Read the National Museums Strategy for Wales 2010 to 2015. The three pillars of the museums strategy are:

• Museums for everyone - contribute to living communities, promote the values of a fair and just society and provide lifelong learning opportunities for all.
• A Collection for the Nation - hold, care for and continue to develop collections for the nation which represent our rich and diverse culture.
• Working Effectively - manage their sites, operations, collections and people more effectively.

Economic Impact

key UK data 1998-99 shows

• there were between 80-114 million visits to museums and galleries
• an output impact to the Welsh economy of £1.6m was generated by libraries, museums and heritage services

Social Inclusion

It is well known that children and young people growing up in a context of poverty and depravation have consistently worse educational outcomes than their more affluent peers. In the area of formal learning, most museums provide a learning experience for pupils, particularly at Key Stage 2. Developing robust policy and capturing evidence of impact through the Inspiring Learning for All framework is crucial. Quantitative and qualitative research shows the following:

• The key stage to engage people in cultural activities is when they are very young (before age of 11) and social inclusion cultural programmes need to recognise the needs and cultural contexts of different groups and adopt an inclusive pricing policy, with staff reflecting diversity
• Innovative and creative outreach work in museums can reach socially excluded groups and develop new skills, increase self-esteem and confidence and enhance formal and informal learning

Disability

There appears to be little research on the arts and disability that demonstrates the impact of participation by these groups

• Research on Scottish museums concluded that the specific needs of people with learning disabilities should be targeted, as often this group only benefits from promotion of inclusion for other types of disabled groups, and not from being targeted themselves.