Comment – Liz Power, AIM Trustee

Liz Power, one of AIM’s newest Trustees, comments on the current cost of living rises and shares the approaches she’s taking as Director of a small independent museum. 

Sometimes it feels like the problems are never ending. We have all moved from closure and pandemic; to project management and reopening; and now, when we have hardly had time to catch our breath, we move headlong into a cost-of-living crisis and possible recession.

For all of us in the independent sector this is a major worry: if our visitors can’t afford to pay their gas bill, where will they find the funds for a day out? Not to mention our own worries about our organisations’ rising costs.

At my museum (London Museum of Water & Steam in West London) we are approaching this challenge from two directions.

First, we are looking at the cost of running the museum, looking for changes we can make, especially when our current fixed rate for energy ends. For example, we are moving to more local suppliers, reducing the annual costs of our IT by moving to cloud-based systems and negotiating discounts.

We are also planning the budgets and what we might have to not do if the costs don’t allow. Although none of these ideas are a magic bullet, they will all help, and for us the key is starting to plan now.

Second, and just as importantly, we are looking at what we can do to support the local community. When people are choosing between eating and heating, those families will not have any money for days out. We send out tickets to our local food bank to give to families in need of a day out, we have people using the building with their local community groups, all year round, and sharing that free access will be even more important when people have even less.

This is not lost income for us, we are already open, the lights are already on. These visitors bring their energy and enthusiasm and will take that back to their friends and family, who maybe are able to buy a ticket.

For families who do have some disposable income, we will continue to show what good value for money we are as a museum, and those visitor numbers and income will keep us going. This has been helped by moving to annual tickets and letting kids come in for free.

Having said all of this, it’s still going to be hard, and there is no getting away from that. We will all need help and support. So do talk to your networks, get in touch with AIM and your MDOs, look for community partners outside the sector, and most importantly do not struggle alone. We are all facing this challenge together, and like the other challenges that have come before, we will get through it together.

Liz Power, Director, London Museum of Water & Steam

Click here to see the findings from AIM’s recent cost of living survey>>