Jewish Museum London awarded £231,000 to develop new business model

The Jewish Museum London’s “on the move” project has been awarded £231,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to support the development of a new operating model, including adapting existing learning programmes for delivering in London schools.

The museum closed its Camden site this summer due to “unanticipated rising costs”, with a view to reopen in a more prominent location and with a sustainable business plan.

Its transition project, which runs until March 2025, includes loaning objects from its collections to museums across the country and continuing its education and engagement work off-site in primary and secondary schools.

The lottery grant will be used to develop a new operating model for these activities. As well as launching in-person school workshops from next spring, the museum plans to continue to produce virtual programming and broadcasts about Jewish festivals. For this Chanukah, it ran a virtual tour of eight lamps in its collection and a special broadcast for primary schools.

Community and heritage partnerships will host family days around London and reminiscence sessions with museum collections will take place in Jewish care homes.

The museum's acting director, Sue Shave, said: “This grant will have a huge impact on the development of our future plans and will increase our impact on a much wider audience engaging with heritage in the UK.

"Our visitor engagement from this broader presence will increase from 28,000 people a year coming to the Camden museum to a potential audience of 155,000 people per year including schools and community groups, reaching people in different regions around the UK with physical and online collections for the first time.”

Founded in 1932 in Bloomsbury, the museum cares for the UK’s nationally designated collection of judaica, as well as collections from the Jewish Military Museum, United Synagogue and Jewish Historical Society of England.

More than 40 objects are currently on show in Fashion City, How Jewish Londoners shaped global style at the Museum of London Docklands (until April 2024), including marketing signage from tailor’s shops, photography detailing wedding fashions, and tools of the trade including mannequins, needlework and accessories.  

A charity lottery wheel from the Great Synagogue dating back to the 1800s, which was used to draw lots when funds were not enough, is on loan to the Faith Museum in Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland, and in January it will be joined by two tally sticks (medieval wooden accounting devices).

Objects have been loaned to community partners and religious settings as well as museums. Temporary displays planned as part of the project include Chanukah objects for Bradford synagogue, disability objects for the Jewish Deaf Association and a Celebration of Jewish Life at Swiss Cottage Library Gallery in March 2024.

“We’re delighted that our objects can already be seen around the country, and this [lottery] support will enable us to expand further our programme of loans and displays, alongside our education work,” said the museum’s chair of trustees, Nick Viner said.

“Jewish Museum London exists to celebrate the UK’s diverse Jewish community and heritage. Now more than ever we need to foster understanding between all cultures.”