What can heritage organisations do to broaden access to low income families?
This series of films and selection of resources was inspired by the Missing Out? Conference that took place on the 23rd March 2009. The conference, hosted by English Heritage, examined how to broaden the appeal of the heritage offer, particularly to family groups.
The interviewees in the film clips here all took part in a series of talks and discussions on the day and kindly agreed to give Our Place a one-minute interview on the question.
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Bill Longshaw Freelance Exhibition Curator |
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Speakers’ suggestions range from getting out onto the streets to finding ways to blend together diverse stories.
If you want to comment on any of the ideas suggested in the films or have your say on the topic, then please visit the Our Place Missing Out? Conversation to join in.
If you would like to hear more about the original conference then you can view presentations, along with the EH case study at Bolsover Castle titled “Understanding Families from lower socio-economic backgrounds” on the English Heritage website here.
You might also be interested to read the report on the social impact of Heritage Lottery Funding, and The National Year of Reading Report which looks at groups (including white working class boys) who find reading difficult and looks at different communication methods that can engage people more effectively, for example exploring perceptions of what reading is and how to attract people to it by subversive means not mentioning reading at all.
The Runnymede Trust published a new study in January 2009 on the white working class and ethnic diversity in Britain. Who Cares About the White Working Class? It’s well worth a look for a broader picture of the effects of public policy and where these issues sit within a multi-ethnic and culturally diverse society.
In February 09, The Joseph Rowntree Trust published a report on the impact of policy on poverty and inequality in Britain since 1997. The study, by a team led by LSE’s Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, shows sharp contrasts between different policy areas.
The challenge to attract families on low incomes to your site, museum or to engage them with heritage generally is great, not least because of the difficulty of defining this “group” and finding a way to draw them in without being patronising. But with a government focus on narrowing the gap in participation and the studies which have shown that visiting as a child is the major determining factor in whether you visit as an adult, this is a challenge that must be tackled.
If you have any good ideas or practical case studies of how you, or your organisation, have gone about it, then share them here in the Our Place Conversation area or in the Projects section.