Vox pop | How is your museum tackling the cost of living crisis?

“In response to community guidance, we’re offering free events (with Jobcentre staff helping people book), accessible activities in the jobcentre, collecting coats/wellies for families joining our outdoor activities to take for free, and gathering Christmas gifts for parents to pick up at the Jobcentre. Most importantly, we’re asking people how our resources can best serve them, rather than guessing. Our museums are part of a cultural ecosystem and we are stronger when everyone is involved.”

“Museums & Galleries Edinburgh is working jointly with other local authority teams to develop a city-wide, co-ordinated Warm & Welcoming programme of spaces, resources and activities in cultural and community venues. The programme builds on an offer already in place to welcome Ukrainian refugees arriving in Edinburgh, and with no additional budget available, plans are centred on enhancing and/or introducing hyper-local service delivery.”

“First, we are looking to our communities, reimagining ourselves as a community hub and developing new partnerships with local food banks and charities to co-deliver support with a heritage twist. We must adapt, react and respond to a world riven by different crises, and see where our museum can deliver meaningful collections engagement. However, we also have to be realistic about how precarious our position is. We have sold ourselves as the glue that holds our communities together. But with no money, what comes next?”