Today, Kids in Museums is announcing the Flexible Family Ticket campaign at the British Museum, supported by Ed Balls, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families.
What’s the shape of today’s British family? Mum plus her four kids. Dad plus his only child, and the young cousin who lives with them. Grandparents and their grandchildren for whom they care. Big sister and very little sister, whom she looks after. Mum, Dad, Auntie and her daughter.
What’s the shape of a typical family ticket to a museum or gallery? Two plus two.
Ed Balls will kick off the campaign with the Family Ticket Watch, run by Kids in Museums. For the Watch, families will be asked:
- What has been your experience of a family ticket?
- Did it fit your family?
- What would you like a family ticket to look like?
Ed Balls said:
“We want all families, whatever their shape or size, to enjoy the magic of museums and galleries together. That’s why we have asked Kids in Museums to do a national consultation for us on family tickets. Grandparents, aunts and uncles as well as children of all ages should benefit from family discounted tickets and we want to make sure that all museums and galleries adopt a flexible approach in the future.”
Mariella Frostrup, Patron of Kids in Museums, said:
“Visits to museums and galleries should be at the heart of family life, there are few better places to spend quality time with your kids and also give them an enriching and memorable experience. Most museums offer a family ticket but it’s increasingly rare for families to fit the two plus two standard that remains the norm. Why shouldn’t you bring along your Mum, Dad and Stepmother too, or perhaps Granny fancies a day out?”
(Mariella is available for interview.)
Kids in Museums will publish the results in March, recommending a Flexible Family Ticket format that can be adopted by all museums and galleries, to reflect the changing face of families in Britain today.
Kids in Museums produces the Kids in Museums Manifesto, a 20-point document compiled entirely from visitors’ comments. And a top isue for family visitors – point number two on the Manifesto – is that their family can’t get a family ticket. Because their family isn’t two plus two.
The 2010 Kids in Museums Manifesto will be launched at the British Museum on Thursday, alongside the Family Ticket Watch.
