Blog Advocacy works

Museums are an essential part of the fabric of society, helping to make our villages, towns and cities vibrant and inclusive places to live, work and visit. When the Museums Association meets with politicians and decision makers, we always tell them about the transformational and engaging work that museums are doing in partnership with their communities.

Advocacy is about raising the profile of museums and communicating their value to ensure they are seen as worthy of investment. It’s something we should all be doing as part of our everyday work, to make sure those holding the purse strings understand the importance of museums to our communities as much as we do.

Unfortunately, cuts and closures are becoming more and more common, especially in civic museums as cash-strapped councils look to make savings. A recent example of this was the proposed closure of Abbey House Museum by Leeds City Council. In response, the Museums Association wrote to the council to express our concerns over the proposal, which complemented a passionate and coordinated public campaign. As a result, the council has decided to keep the museum open, at least for now.

A year ago, the Museums Association published a blog post “If you don’t ask, you won’t get”. This is the approach we take with our advocacy, working with other sector bodies to make the case and have a clear ask. We’re delighted that Abbey House Museum was saved from closure and we are pleased that there have been other notable successes to our advocacy over the last few months.

After a joined-up advocacy campaign from the MA alongside other museum sector organisations for public investment in civic museums, the UK government announced a new £20m Museum Renewal Fund to ease the financial pressures facing English civic institutions.

There was good news in Scotland when the Scottish government responded to calls from the sector for more investment by announcing a new £4m Culture & Heritage Capacity Fund, which aims to build resilience in museums and galleries. More details about this fund will be announced in the coming weeks.

Advocacy efforts also paid off in Wales when the Welsh government announced an extra £4.4m a year to support the arts, culture and publishing sectors in Wales.

These announcements show that our messaging is resonating and that governments understand the contribution of museums to society. With elections in Scotland and Wales coming up in 2026, these successes provide us with the momentum to continue making the case for the value of museums throughout the UK.

1 April 2025