York Museums Trust facts for kids
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The Yorkshire Museum, one of the trust's sites.
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| Founded | 26 February 2002 |
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| Founder | Robin Guthrie, Michael John Allen, David E Rayner, R E Rushforth |
| Dissolved | N/A |
| Type | Charity |
| Registration no. | 1092466 |
| Purpose | "Our Mission is to cherish the collections, buildings and gardens entrusted to us, presenting and interpreting them as a stimulus for learning, a provocation to curiosity and a source of inspiration and enjoyment for all." |
| Location |
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| Origins | Created by City of York Council to manage the city's museums and galleries |
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Area served
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Yorkshire |
| Services | Operating York's city-owned museums and galleries |
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Key people
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Chairman Sir John Lawton Chief Executive Reyahn King |
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Employees
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101 (as of 1 November 2020) |
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Volunteers
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352 (2016) |
The York Museums Trust (YMT) is a special charity in York, England. It is in charge of running some of the city's most important museums and art galleries. The trust started in 2002. Its job is to look after York's museums for the City of York Council. Since it began, more people have visited these places. The number of visitors has grown from 254,000 to 500,000 each year. This happened in both 2016 and 2017.
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History of the Trust
The York Museums Trust officially started on August 1, 2002. It took over the museums and galleries on October 3, 2002. Many staff members who worked for the City of York Council moved to the new trust.
Over the years, the Trust has been involved in many exciting projects:
- In 2009, the Trust worked with the British Museum. Together, they bought the Vale of York Hoard. This was a huge Viking treasure worth over £1,000,000!
- In 2011, a big art show featured David Hockney's painting, Bigger Trees Near Warter. It was the most popular exhibition at the York Art Gallery since the Trust took over.
- The Trust successfully raised money in 2012. This allowed them to keep a special Iron Age gold necklace, called a torc. It was found in Towton, North Yorkshire.
- Some amazing objects from Yorkshire are kept by the Trust. They were part of the BBC's History of the World project. These include the Middleham Jewel and the York helmet. There was even a tin of Rowntree's cocoa from Ernest Shackleton's trip to the South Pole.
- In 2013, the Trust worked with the BBC again. They held a Stargazing Live event at the York Observatory. This is located in the York Museum Gardens.
- An exhibition in 2014 at York Castle Museum looked at how the First World War changed things. This was 100 years after the war began.
- In 2015, Janet Barnes, the first Chief Executive of YMT, retired. Reyahn King took over her role.
How the Trust is Funded
The York Museums Trust gets most of its money from the City of York Council. It also receives funds from the Arts Council. The Trust also earns money from ticket sales and other sources. For 2013/14, they expected to have about £5.85 million in total funding.
Trustees Who Help Run the Trust
The Trust is guided by a group of people called trustees. They help make important decisions. Here are some of the trustees as of November 2020:
| Name | Date Appointed | Role |
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| James Grierson | 2014 | Chair |
| David Andrews | 2014 | |
| Philip Ashton | 2017 | |
| Sita Brand | 2017 | |
| Dr Angela Dean | 2017 | |
| Sarah Drummond | 2014 | |
| Mary Haworth | 2015 | |
| Richard Jagger | 2015 | |
| Stephen Lusty | 2014 | |
| Prof Dianne Willcocks | 2017 | Senior Independent Trustee |
| Dr Miranda Lowe | 2020 | |
| Scott Furlong | 2020 | |
| Andrew Scott | 2020 | |
| Councillor Simon Daubeney | ||
| Councillor Danny Myers |
Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic caused big changes for the Trust.
- On March 18, 2020, the Trust closed all its sites. This was due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- By July 28, the Trust had a £1.5 million money problem. This was because of the long closures.
- They got some emergency money from Arts Council England. But they still worried about losing staff jobs.
- In August, they asked the City of York Council for more money. They warned that without it, all their sites might close. Ownership would then go back to the council.
- On October 13, 2020, the Trust got good news. They received £850,000 from the UK government's Culture Recovery Fund.
- However, new national rules meant the York Art Gallery and York Castle Museum closed again. This happened from November 5, 2020.
- On November 10, 2020, the Trust finished changing how it was organized. This helped close a £570,000 money gap. Sadly, 26 staff members lost their jobs. Another 17 chose to leave their jobs. As of November 1, 2020, the Trust had 101 employees.
- The Castle Museum and Art Gallery reopened on December 2, 2020. The Yorkshire Museum stayed closed.
- York moved into stricter rules on December 31, 2020. This forced the Art Gallery and Castle Museum to close again.
- On March 28, 2021, the Yorkshire Museum got another £18,000 grant. This was for repairs to its building.
- In March 2021, it was announced that the Art Gallery would reopen on May 28. A new exhibition, 'Grayson Perry: The Pre-Therapy Years', would also start. The Castle Museum was also set to reopen in May.
- On April 2, 2021, the Trust announced more good news. They received £423,000 from the second round of the Culture Recovery Fund.
Places Run by the Trust
The York Museums Trust manages four cultural places and a garden.
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The Yorkshire Museum
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York Museum Gardens
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The Castle Museum
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The York City Art Gallery
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St Mary's (a modern art space)
The Yorkshire Museum
This museum is very old and important for the county of Yorkshire. It shows collections from the Yorkshire Philosophical Society. It also collects items from the whole region.
York Museum Gardens
The Museum Gardens are a beautiful botanical garden. They are home to the Yorkshire Museum and the ruins of St Mary's Abbey.
York Castle Museum
The Castle Museum tells the story of social history. It is located in two buildings that used to be prisons.
York Art Gallery
York's Art Gallery has many paintings. It also has a very important collection of studio ceramics from around the world. In 2012, the Trust got £7 million to make big improvements to the gallery. Over 1000 important paintings from the Trust's collection are now online. This was part of a project with the BBC and the Public Catalogue Foundation.
York St Mary's
York St Mary's is a space for modern art. It is in an old church called St Mary's, Castlegate. At first, different artists showed their work together here. But since 2005, St Mary's has shown art by single artists. These artworks change regularly. The first was a textile piece called Breathing Spaces by Caroline Broadhead. It was inspired by the old church building. After that came Echo by Susie MacMurray. In 2012, Laura Belem created The Temple of a Thousand Bells. This art piece used many glass bells. It combined bell sounds with a story about a temple sinking into the sea.
