Looking for a change of pace during the Christmas Shopping? Why not pop into Brighton Toy Museum?

If you’re looking for something a little bit different to do with the kids this Christmas, why not bring them along to our funky little museum based conveniently right underneath Brighton train station? We’ve got a whole wonderland of different toys, dolls, games and construction kits to look at and reminisce over, and to impress your young ‘uns with that you know what they are and how they work!

You’ll never seem more relevant than when the toys you loved as a child are now exhibits in a museum.

We’ve got brilliant collections of all kinds of cars, trains, construction sets, stuffed toys with brilliant characterful faces and currently there’s a traditional Danish Christmas market, constructed entirely out of Lego.

Walk Back To A World Of Analogue

Take a break from the overstimulating toys with flashing lights and electronic sounds and calm yourself with the gentle clatter of a Hornby trainset and the gentle whirr of a huge Ferris wheel hand built out of Meccano. Give yourself a minute or two to look at the stuff that kids had to play with decades ago and remember simpler times. And, if they really take your fancy, look in the museum shop to see if any are available to buy.

We don’t sell exhibits, but we do stock a fit to burst range of model trains, toy cars, Revel and Airfix model planes and tanks, books on a range of subjects, but mostly about steam trains, and postcards. We offer local tourist information for free too.

So next time you’re in Brighton and you’re looking for something to break up the day, you want to entertain the kids, or bring your own parents for a bit of a treat, come to Brighton Toy and Model Museum. You won’t be disappointed.

Brighton Toy and Model Museum will be closed between Christmas and New Year to give all our wonderful volunteers the opportunity to enjoy their festive frolics. After we close at 5pm on Sat 21st Dec we'll be shut until opening as normal on 2nd January 2020. We wish all our lovely customers and supporters a happy and healthy Christmas and New Year! Looking forward to seeing everyone in 2020!

Reaching Kids In Our Community

Charity campaign proposal

Collect money from donors and sponsors in order to allow underprivileged children, inc children in care, foster children, children in families who receive benefits and use food banks, children with learning and physical handicaps who wouldn’t normally use our facilities the chance to bypass the cost barrier to entry.

As we are an independent charity who needs entry fees to pay for the rent, wage bill and upkeep of the museum it’s not possible to give free entry to children and families who don’t have the disposable income to spend on a ticket to Brighton Toy and Model Museum. While these children and families are the very ones who would get most out of and enjoy a fun day out at our museum, they are kept out by our need to make enough money to keep the doors open. It is therefore my proposal that we should approach individuals and organisations in order to collect a Fund which is dedicated to the inclusion of otherwise excluded members of our community.

I see the Fund being spent in several ways depending on the success of the campaign to raise funds and the children we see as most fit to benefit from the Fund.

1, To simply pay the price of a family ticket to applicants from the care services for children and their adult. (research will be required to identify care homes, foster homes & foster families, making them aware of this opportunity)

2, To broaden the scope of our target audience to include children with special needs who would enjoy a day out in an environment suited to their needs, ie, we have wheelchair access, but some forms of autism require quiet/low stimulus areas in order to be comfortable. (May require opening when the Museum is normally closed. Pay volunteers to come in on their day off out of The Fund?)

3, Broaden our scope further to include children of families on a low income who can’t afford ‘luxuries’ such as a visit to our museum. Simple leaflets & posters in the food bank should suffice if they have an application on the bottom which parents can fill in. Copy should be worded to avoid stigma or embarrassment.

4, Look into the possibility of using the Fund to pay for inviting paid  guests to speak exclusively to members of above mentioned sectors of our community. Initial invitees could include people we know enjoy the museum, such as Chris Riddell, author and illustrator, to give a class on drawing. Jane Hissey, author of the Old Bear Stories to give a class on creative writing, etc.

How To Sponsor Brighton Toy And Model Museum

Brighton Toy and Model Museum is looking for sponsorship, here's how you can help.

No doubt you're aware that museums and galleries all over the country need sponsorship in order to be able to carry out their vital work keeping history alive and offering a place for our community to get in touch with their past and present in order to make a better future.
Brighton Toy and Model Museum does this not only by providing a place where families can come and look at toys from the past, but also offers an opportunity for volunteers and students to gain skills, experience and contacts in the heritage and tourism sectors. We do charge admission, but in order to be able to carry out our services we also rely on sponsorship from local business and individuals.

So, what's in it for you?

Becoming a sponsor not only earns our eternal gratitude, we offer a range of other benefits too: Your charity sponsorship is tax deductible. We give you a PR4 backlink from our sponsor's page to your website. We have a number of static advertising spaces on Brighton Train Station concourse which are unavailable for other forms of advertising. These include our banner outside the entrance to the train station, swan neck poster boards on the concourse, and the exhibition cabinets currently brightening up the ticket office.
We're very adaptable and have a number of sponsorship packages available, so why not get in touch to see what donating to the Brighton Toy and Model Museum can do for you?

Call on 01273749494 or email jan@brightontoymuseum.co.uk or pop in for a cheeky tour around the museum and a chat about our sponsor benefits.