£450,000 grant for London Transport Museum

THE London Transport Museum (LTM) has been given an additional £450,000 grant by Arts Council England. This sum comes from the Government's Culture Recovery Fund direct support mechanism, which is distributing more than £100 million to 925 recipients to support their financial recovery.

LTM received previous awards of £1.75 million in October 2020 and another £875,000 in April from the Government's £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund. These were to assist the museum with its long-term recovery, keeping it in operation during the 2020/2021 period. However, these grants barely made up for the estimated £7 million of lost revenue caused by the pandemic during that initial period, as the museum generates

80% of its own income.

In total, the museum was closed for just under a year; 355 days.

Since it reopened, it has witnessed a return of visitor numbers to around 68% of its pre-pandemic levels. These are largely domestic visitors, with the rest being made up of international travellers, whose presence has been limited throughout 2021.

A new exhibition, entitled ‘Legacies', launches on February 11, 2022, looking at the contribution of the Caribbean workforce to London's postwar transport system. Visitors will also discover the stories and memories from first, second and even third generation transport workers since the 1950s.