Museums continue to engage and inspire audiences

Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales is all about inspiring people and changing lives. It captures their aspirations; aims to break down barriers for young people and those in most need and to increase participation and representation for all.

Amgueddfa Cymru is comprised of seven free-entry national museums, and last year they welcomed a record 1.8 million visitors. They are home to over five million objects and memories from a national collection of art, history, heritage, and environmental science.

Amgueddfa Cymru are also the largest provider of learning outside of the classroom in Wales, and with the support of players of People's Postcode Lottery, they welcome over 200,000 school children and students and reach over 600,000 adults and children in family groups annually, through their educational and learning programmes.

Like so many other organisations, Amgueddfa Cymru was forced to close its public spaces in March 2020, due to the pandemic. During the subsequent months, the players' support has been instrumental in helping to ensure that the Museum continues to support the many educational bodies, community partners and families that they work with.

The players' support has enabled the Museum to offer more in-depth learning opportunities with communities in their immediate locality, as well as to introduce digital initiatives that have had a broader reach across the whole of Wales and beyond.

Because of players support, the museums have been:

• Engaging with schools through Minecraft your Museum, a competition the Museum organised for schools to recreate their ideal museum using Minecraft software.

"Many parents told me that their children were only interested in playing Minecraft and they wished they could do something more constructive. Around the same time, Hwb - the digital platform for learning and teaching in Wales - released a free educational version of Minecraft to all children in Wales. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to offer an educational project involving Minecraft," said the learning, participation, and interpretation manager at National Roman Legion Museum. 

Over 100 entries were received from across Wales and beyond and the standard was exceptionally high. Winners won a future trip for themselves and their classrooms to an Amgueddfa Cymru site, and the competition has been shortlisted for the Kids in Museums ‘Family Friendly Museum from Home’ award in their ‘best social media’.

• Reaching out to families through the Museums Family Summer Holiday offer. One thousand creative packs with activities inspired by Amgueddfa Cymru’s collections were created and sent to families across Wales.
• Engaging with early years through the Museums Digital Toddler Time. Online content for toddlers and their carers aims to replace the real live toddler times that usually happen in the Museums learning spaces weekly.
• Supporting wellbeing and tackling isolation through Amgueddfa Cymru’s Objects of Comfort campaign. Each week a different theme and related Museum collections inspire a range of sensory, music and hands-on activity that can stimulate isolated, less mobile people and those living with dementia to be more active and engaged.

Between October 2019 and June 2020, players have supported Amgueddfa Cymru to engage with a total of 285,327 people through their learning programmes.

Almost £2 million has been raised for National Museum Wales thanks to players.