Several museum charities have committed to adding young people to their boards as part of a programme that aims to improve the age diversity of trustees.
Charities including Elizabeth Gaskell’s House and New Forest Heritage Centre took part in a year-long programme with young peoples’ charity Kids in Museums to help their staff and trustees welcome young people onto their boards for the first time.
The Engage Your First Young Trustees initiative comes at a time when trustee diversity remains a stubborn talking point across the sector.
Research suggests that young people often feel unwelcome in museums, with fewer than 3% of charity trustees in England and Wales aged under 30 and the average age of a trustee being 57.
There is little available data for the arts, culture and museums sector specifically, but the most recent Arts Council England data that includes age shows a similar picture, with 91% of charity trustees aged 34 and over.
However, further recent research by Ecclesiastical and the Young Trustees Movement suggested that two in five Gen Z young people would be interested in becoming a charity trustee.
Programme ‘has already made a very positive difference’
Kids in Museums’ programme has focused on helping museum charities to develop more inclusive board cultures to support the involvement of young people as trustees.
It also supports organisations to test new recruitment processes to reach young people who are interested in governance roles, and to embed inclusive working practices among their board members.
Hayley Long, learning and education lead at the New Forest Heritage Centre said: “This has already made a very positive difference to our museum.
“Our new trustee has been part of their first board meeting, has volunteered to become involved with our summer exhibition and is contributing new ideas and a fresh approach.
“As a result of taking part in this programme, it has also encouraged our trust board to look at how board meetings are conducted and to make them more inclusive.”
Sally Jastrzebski-Lloyd, director at Elizabeth Gaskell’s House, said: “It has made us re-assess our accessibility and what it means to be a trustee.
“The process really made me think critically about how and why we do things, and what I, as director, need from our trustees. The programme has felt like an opportunity to reset.”
Other organisations that took part include Nantwich Museum, the National Football Museum, St Barbe Museum, Towner Eastbourne and Wiltshire Museum.
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