Kids in Museums
The Flexible Family Ticket
(because families come in all shapes and sizes)
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.
Museums can charge for entry or be free. But there may be a charge for special exhibitions and events even at free museums. To make families feel welcome, family tickets need to reflect all the different shapes and sizes of today's families.
Bosworth Battlefield
Michael Rosen & Ed Balls – Launch
What are we doing about it?
Help shape the family tickets of the future by answering the three questions using the form on the right and telling us what you think.
We'll publish the results in April, along with recommendations for a Flexible Family Ticket format for museums and galleries to adopt, so family tickets truly reflect the face of families in Britain.
This consultation has been commissioned and is being funded by Department for Children, Schools and Families and is supported by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Family Ticket Watch
Have your say
Alternatively, you can get in touch by:
Email: yourview@familyticketwatch.org.uk
Call: 020 7022 1888
Tweet: follow us on Twitter
Write: Family Ticket Watch, Kids in Museums, Downstream Building, One London Bridge, London. SE1 9BG
Chelmsford Museum
Neil MacGregor – Launch
St. Nicholas Priory
Ed Balls & Mariella Frostrup – Launch
"We want all families, what ever 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."
– Ed Balls MP, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families
"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 2 x 2 standard that remains the norm. Why shouldn't you bring along your Mum, Dad and Stepmother too, or perhaps Granny fancies a day out? We're delighted that the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, Ed Balls has decided to support our campaign for National Guidelines for a a flexible family ticket that will welcome all families whatever their shape and size.
– Mariella Frostrup, Patron of Kids in Museums
"Kids in Museums is a fantastic charity that does fantastic work in making sure museums and galleries keep some of their most important visitors - the children who will sustain them for years to come - at the front of their mind. A great experience in a museum can kick start a lifelong love of culture. A bad experience can do the opposite. That's why Kids in Museums' work is so incredibly important."
– Ed Vaizey MP, Shadow Minister for the Arts
The responses from families have been flooding in and here are just a few of the comments so far:
"Because our eldest child has a disability, it would be great to be able to take along one of his older cousins with us to help out, but cost often prohibits this."
"Family tickets aren't usually good enough value for a family with one child."
"I would like a family ticket to include all five of us."
"It would be great if regardless of whether a family comprises of two mummies, two daddies etc we are all entitled to be treated as a family."
"Family tickets encourage us to get together - we love them!"
"My husband is currently serving in Afghanistan and can't accompany us to any events. It's quite upsetting to be classed as a 'non-family' when he's away."
