UK-Wide Campaign launched to fund museum visits for 100,000 children
Date: 13 May 2025
UK-WIDE CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED TO FUND MUSEUM VISITS FOR 100,000 CHILDREN
- The Yorkshire Museum (York) is part of a UK-wide network ensuring every schoolchild has access to museums
- Cost cited as the major barrier as 60% of UK teachers say they had not taken their class to a museum on a school trip in the last 12 months
- Charity ‘Art Explora’ to fund museum visits and school transport costs to tackle cultural inequality in the UK
- Groundbreaking digital interactive experience ‘Time Odyssey’ introduces school children to museum collections
Today at the British Museum, leading philanthropist Frédéric Jousset has launched a major campaign to tackle cultural inequality in the UK by bringing over a hundred thousand children on school trips to museums across the country.
His foundation, Art Explora, teamed up with the British Museum to launch Time Odyssey – a new interactive learning experience for 7-11 year old schoolchildren which takes pupils on a quest through their local museum physically and virtually.
Yorkshire schoolchildren are at the forefront of this major new national campaign. The Yorkshire Museum (York) played a pivotal role in the pilot programme and welcomed nearly 2,000 pupils from 42 local schools — 64% of which had not visited the museum since before the pandemic.
Thanks to grants for museum visits and transport provided by Art Explora, schools are able to travel to their local museum – many for the first time. Some schools travelled as far as 66 miles and 1.5hrs each way, demonstrating the appetite for cultural experiences. The programme plans to take one hundred thousand children on school trips to museums across the country.
Charlie Trzeciak, Schools Learning Manager at York Museums Trust, said: “The Time Odyssey project has provided us with a valuable opportunity to connect pupils in areas such as Leeds, Hull and isolated parts of North Yorkshire with the incredible Stone Age, Roman and Medieval collections at the Yorkshire Museum.
“Both pupils and teachers have enjoyed the sense of adventure created by the Time Odyssey app and how it empowers young people to approach museum objects from a variety of creative angles.”
The launch of Art Explora’s Time Odyssey programme comes after new data, commissioned by the charity, shows that school visits have not picked up since the pandemic. Over 60% of teachers say they had not taken their class to a museum on a school trip in the last 12 months.
Despite 90% of teachers agreeing that every child should visit a museum on a school trip before leaving primary school, 14% of teachers have never taken their class. More than half of the teachers surveyed said that cost is the main barrier with a greater disparity of access for children from lower socio-economic backgrounds outside London.
Frédéric Jousset, President and Founder of Art Explora says: “School trips offer enrichment that cannot be experienced in the classroom. This should be a fundamental right for young people, not be an optional extra. Time Odyssey levels the playing field, making sure that all children have access to culture, no matter what their background.”
In addition to the Yorkshire Museum, the national programme will deliver impact at Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter; The Great North Museum: Hancock, Newcastle upon Tyne; Manchester Museum; South Shields Museum & Art Gallery. World Museum Liverpool, Ulster Museum, and Tees Valley Museums plan to join later this year.
Museum trips are a vital part of education, enriching learning, building cultural capital and fostering creativity. Students from disadvantaged backgrounds typically benefit most from these experiences as they are less likely to have this opportunity outside sponsored school trips. This exposure can lead to greater appreciation and understanding of different cultures across the world, and a tangible connection to the past.
Art Explora works closely with partner museums to target children at schools with a high percentage of free school meals, as well as schools in rural areas – both identified as schools that typically do not take children on school trips.
–ENDS–
Art Explora is an international foundation that inspires new encounters between arts and audiences – locally, nationally and internationally.
Our imaginative, contemporary approach encourages new forms of access, participation and engagement with arts and culture, pushing boundaries with digital technology and touring programmes. We work in partnership with artists, cultural organisations and communities, exploring all art forms, and creating transformative cultural experiences for everyone.
Founded by entrepreneur Frédéric Jousset in France in 2019 and in the UK in 2021, Art Explora is a collective journey bringing together many partners and more than 1,600 volunteers. Art Explora UK is a registered charity. www.artexplora.org
Time Odyssey is a fun, interactive learning experience in museums designed for children aged 7 to 11. Played on a tablet, children go on a quest through their local museum – both physically and virtually.
They meet historical characters lost in time: Hori the Ancient Egyptian Tomb-Painter; Revna the Viking of the Sea; Cheng, a Scribe from Ancient China; and Felix, a future Roman Centurion. Together they work in teams to tackle five challenges and open the time portal to help their character find their way home. Each challenge is designed around themes and time periods in KS2, encouraging learning around core curriculum subjects as well as softer skills such as teamwork, visual literacy and oracy.
Supported by Arts Council England
The Yorkshire Museum is home to some of Britain’s finest and most remarkable archaeological treasures from the region’s famous Roman, Viking and Medieval past. It also houses amazing artefacts from earlier periods from across Yorkshire, including those from Star Carr, as well as a nationally significant natural sciences collection.
Opened in 1830, by the Yorkshire Philosophical Society, the museum was one of the earliest purpose-built museums in the country. It is located in botanic gardens which include the ruins of St Mary’s Abbey, a powerhouse in Medieval York until the dissolution of the monasteries in King Henry VIII’s time.
Notes to Editors
Please see here for images: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1u2OjRZCW_ltpVJgKLCMLprUqpp0WLTHV?usp=sharing
For any further press enquiries or requests for commentary, please contact:
Clara Taylor
Art Explora, Somerset House, West Water Gate, Victoria Embankment, WC2R 1LA
Office: +44 (0)207 759 1145 / Mobile: +44 (0)7568528381
Erica Bolton
Bolton & Quinn, 6 Addison Avenue, London W11 4QR
Office: +44 (0)20 7221 5000 / Mobile: +44 (0)7711 698186
Enquiries for the Yorkshire Museum:
Amy Cope, Public Relations Officer
amy.cope@ymt.org.uk, Mobile: +44 (0)7761634646
