Get Aboard the Community Rail Partnership

Brighton Toy and Model Museum is enjoying some fantastic publicity thanks to our new sponsors and the Sussex Community Rail Partnership. 

Earlier this year we were incredibly proud and privileged to sign up with Brighton Station, becoming the first signatory to their Community Rail Partnership Agreement. Under this agreement we get to display a banner at the station entrance directing visitors and residents of Brighton and Hove to our venue, so whether you’re looking for us specifically, or you’re just visiting and looking for something to do, you know where we are. We also have a Swan Neck, a portable billboard which stands on the station concourse which directs visitors to Brighton toward our location.

We also have display cabinets in the booking office containing several items of our collection. Nobody likes queueing, and these displays offer a little something to look at and attract interest as you wait your turn. And it’s these display cabinets we’re looking to find sponsors for.

Annual Sponsorship Deals Bring Excellent Returns

We’re currently offering a one year sponsorship deal for £500. For this, not only will you get to display your company name in a location that is normally unavailable for advertising and marketing, you get a place on the Brighton Toy and Model Museum Sponsor’s Page (through testing we’ve found that links from our official museum site are incredibly good for SEO).

Jan Etches, Deputy Museum Manager and driving force behind getting Brighton Toy and Model Museum on board the Community Rail Partnership Agreement said “This is a fantastic opportunity to let people know where the museum is whilst creating partnerships with Brighton Railway Station and other local businesses.”

Extraordianary Opportunities

Brighton Station is the 9th busiest in the UK, outside London, and sponsorship would mean placing your company name on one of the cabinets. This space isn’t available to traditional display advertising as it is only for the use of Network Rail and their partners such as Govia Thameslink and Southern Rail. However, through your sponsorship you will be contributing to a Sussex Community Rail Partnership member, thereby allowing you to have your business name displayed alongside our exhibit.

To take up sponsorship, please call the Deputy Museum Manager, Jan Etches on 01273 749494 for more details and restrictions.

Brighton Toy and Model Museum In Ground-breaking New Community Rail Partnership With Brighton Railway Station

At midday 21st March 2018 Brighton Toy and Model Museum founder, Chris Littledale signed up to the Community Rail Partnership agreement, along with Anthony Dowsett, Govia Thameslink Railway Station Manager, and Catherine Simmons, Sussex Community Rail Partnership. Brighton Toy and Model Museum is the first organisation that this programme has taken on board and the staff at the toy museum are all very excited about what the project will mean for the museum and the wider Brighton and Hove community in general.

What It Means For Us

As part of the agreement Brighton Toy and Model Museum will gain access to advertising and promotional space all over Brighton Station, including 'Swan Neck' poster displays on the main concourse and banners on the station railings, visible as you leave the station and head down to the beach. We will also be displaying pieces from our collection in cabinets in the ticket office so travellers will have something interesting to look at and spark their enthusiasm as they wait to book their tickets. This is a great opportunity for Brighton Toy and Model Museum as it allows us to reach local people and visitors to Brighton alike. So many people say “I go past the museum every day, but I've never been in,” and now we can reach out to them, giving them a little bit of the museum while they do something else.

What It Means For The Railway Station

Because we're located directly underneath Brighton Railway Station, it's always been an ambition of ours to form a friendly relationship with the station owners. The station isn't just a place you pass through on your way somewhere else, it's a place to meet, to part, and to spend time together with friends and family as you see one another off, or have a coffee while you make plans for your visit to our beautiful city. Our commitment to Brighton Train Station will mean that we supply an exhibition which is entertaining and interesting, which reflects the role played by rail in the development and popularity of Brighton and Hove, and where that relationship between trains and the people they serve is headed in the future.

What It Means For You

Brighton Toy and Model Museum is working hard to become the best quirky, unique venue for arts and entertainment in the city. As well as corporate events and special days geared to model rail enthusiasts, we are now a venue for Brighton Festival Fringe. This year we are playing host to a plethora of performers from comedy to theatre including local talent from Hubble Bubble Productions, Adriano Fettucini and the well-loved children’s author Jane Hissey. As well as being a performance space, we will also be hosting an exhibition of work created by students at Brighton MET College. This will give the young designers the perfect opportunity to design, create and curate an exhibition of their work to the general public during the Fringe Festival.

Having this agreement with Brighton Railway Station means that we will be able to promote, market and display all these activities to the community as they pass through the train station, and as we're so conveniently located, we hope that they will all come down and support us and the work that we do to preserve childhood memories and local railway heritage.