June Issue 2004

The AIM Bulletin is the main communication channel for the UKs 1000+ independent museums and heritage organisations - half the total provision for the British Isles - which have been in the forefront of the museum movement for over 25 years.

IN THIS ISSUE 

• AIM’s 2005 Annual Conference will be on 5-7 May in York, hosted by the York Museums Trust.
  
  
• A crucial meeting on the future of Gift Aid on day memberships has left the door open for a solution. AIM met John Healey, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, in May with other interested organisations, and he asked for discussions with Inland Revenue officials to reach a solution. It is clear museums may have to offer a day membership with ‘added value’ to meet the Government’s principle of Gift Aid encouraging more charitable giving, and work will now go ahead on proposals. AIM chairman Sam Mullins said “huge progress” had been made since the Government’s original announcement that it intended to “close the loophole” which would have meant withdrawal of Gift Aid on admissions. Pages 1& 2.
  
  
• Most charity museums became exempt from paying VAT on admissions from 1 June.  The majority are expected to be better off under the new regulations. Those who are concerned about their future status could still arrange to become non-eligible but this could affect their charity status. At the AIM Conference in May Daniel Barlow of Deloitte & Touche updated delegates on the  situation but it remains AIM’s advice that all museums must take professional advice to guide them through this minefield. Page 3.
  
  
• Macclesfield Silk Museum director Richard de Peyer urges museums to set aside collections policies and interpretation strategies and get down to thinking hard about the future of their collections in this issue’s Personal View.  It was worth remembering that when all the current Government bodies and quasi-Government groups had long gone, the collections themselves would still remain. How they were presented to the public was what finally mattered.  Page 3.
  
  
• Government initiatives may come and go but museums had ‘permanent interests’, AIM delegates were told at the annual conference at the River & Rowing Museum, Henley on Thames in May. As governing museums and ensuring their sustainability gets ever more complex AIM members gathered to consider the issues at the new day-and-a-half format conference by the River Thames.  Risks to institutions were on the increase, yet speakers were at pains to stress the importance of enjoyment in the governing process. The Sustainable Independent Museum focused on the strengths of the charitable trust governance model; funding and income generation; an afternoon session specifically for chairs and trustees of independent museums and workshops on Vat, Gift Aid, volunteers in the heritage environment, applying for Lottery funding and managing IT projects. Visits include Stonor Park and a trip into the Thames Valley to visit the Chilterns Open Air Museum, Buckinghamshire County Museum, Buckingham Railway Centre and Waddesdon Manor.  The AIM dinner was on board the New Orleans Mississipi Sternwheeler on the Thames and the Saturday night dinner was at Leander Club, Henley.  Page 4.
  
  
• The Rural Museums Network has been officially launched at a conference in March at the Museum of English Rural Life, giving the green light to various initiatives in the rural museum sector over the last five years. Challenges ahead include developing the Distributed National Collection of rural artefacts, making rural museums relevant to 21st century audiences and linking in with private owners. Page 9.
  
  
• Transport and industrial heritage groups met Heritage Lottery Fund representatives to discuss the difficulties of obtaining grants. The meeting agreed that small museums and heritage groups needed help with applications, from HLF, local authorities, and each other, and needed to consider partnerships with other organisations.  Page 11.
  
  

Also in this issue 

• SeaBritain 2005 is launched
• Museum development service a step nearer
• £3.8 million boost for Designated museums
• New museum education funding announced
• Cheap rail travel for charities
• Ironbridge’s Jackfield Tile Works on way to becoming regional restoration centre
• Restored Bronze Age pots go to Salisbury and Wiltshire museums
• UK’s last Bessemer Converter gets coveted Heritage Hallmark
• Museum Profile: Kington & District Museum
  
  

Plus

Information on AIM’s latest events, AIM’s Trading Survey, the Bob Harding Training Fund Bursaries and FOCUS information papers, and the two-page AIM Directory – 30+ providers of products and services for the museum sector.
Further information contacts:  Sam Mullins, AIM chairman - Tel 020 7379 6344.  Fax 020 7565 7250.   Email  samm@ltmuseum.co.uk.  Diana Zeuner, AIM Bulletin editor - Tel/Fax 01243 811364.  Email  heavyhorse@mistral.co.uk.