A £1.75 million lifeline for London Transport Museum

London Transport Museum has received a £1.75 million lifeline as part of the Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund to help face the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic.

It is one of 35 major cultural organisations receiving the first grants between £1 and £3 million through the Culture Recovery Fund – with £75 million of investment announced today.

This follows £334 million awarded earlier in the month to nearly 2,000 organisations. Further rounds of funding in the cultural and heritage sector are due to be announced over the coming weeks.

When the pandemic forced London Transport Museum to close its doors in March, its finances were hit hard. It has since suffered losses of £3 million and in July launched a public appeal to help fund its future.

The new £1.75 million grant from the Culture Recovery Fund, which is being administered by Arts Council England, is a vital lifeline that will now support the Museum through the winter months and into the New Year.

It will mean the venue can keep its Covent Garden doors open for people to discover its unique collection of heritage vehicles, social history and art and design, as well as its family activities and award-winning Hidden London exhibition located in the Global Gallery.

The delivery of new online activity developed during the lockdown for people to take part in at home will also continue thanks to this new investment.

This includes schemes like Route into Work, which is part of the Museum’s skills and employability programme. Through new online workshops and careers advice this scheme connects young Londoners - a group hit hardest by the pandemic - with opportunities at recruiting transport businesses. 

A popular new series of virtual Hidden London tours revealing the secret history of disused Underground stations usually off limits to the public will also continue.

Long-term the Museum still faces an unprecedented financial challenge with further losses expected, but the Culture Recovery Fund grant brings much needed reassurance in the face of this uncertainty. 

Sam Mullins OBE, the Director of London Transport Museum, said: “We are incredibly grateful and relieved to have received support from the Culture Recovery Fund. London Transport Museum has already lost £3 million and counting this year, but this new funding gives us hope. It is a huge shot in the arm for my trustees and colleagues and gives us confidence for the future. It will mean we can keep our doors open into the new year, continuing our programmes for families, children, young people, culture and transport fans. A huge thank you to Arts Council England, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and HM Treasury, and to the many supporters and visitors who have stood by the Museum during this difficult time.”

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden, said: “As part of our unprecedented £1.57 billion rescue fund, today we’re saving British cultural icons with large grants of up to £3 million – from Shakespeare’s Globe to the Sheffield Crucible. These places and organisations are irreplaceable parts of our heritage and what make us the cultural superpower we are. This vital funding will secure their future and protect jobs right away.”

Chair, Arts Council England, Sir Nicholas Serota, said: “The Culture Recovery Fund has already helped hundreds of organisations, of all types and sizes, in villages, towns and cities across the country. It has provided a lifeline that will allow these organisations to continue to play an integral role in their communities and produce new artistic work that will entertain and inspire us all. This latest funding, which are the largest grants to date, will support some of the country’s most loved and admired cultural spaces – from great regional theatres and museums to historic venues in the capital – which are critical to the development of a new generation of talent and in providing work for freelance creatives.”

Visitors to London Transport Museum can explore its newly transformed London’s Transport at War gallery and enjoy a line-up of family half-term activities inspired by Billy Brown of London Town, a once famous character on 1940s transport posters.

Activities, including a trail to track down Billy Brown amongst the historic vehicles on display, will run until Sunday 1 November at both the Museum in Covent Garden and its Museum Depot in Acton Town.

Alternatively, people looking to explore the fascinating history of London’s Underground stations can be transported to a subterranean world of secret tunnels usually off-limits to the public on one of three new virtual Hidden London tours about Brompton Road, King William Street and Holborn (Kingsway). 

Timed tickets to visit the Museum or its Depot and to join a Hidden London virtual tour can be booked online.