Join The Museum Family!

Like any charity in these straitened times Brighton Toy and Model Museum is always looking for ways to increase its turnover. Our ambition is to deliver something worthwhile to our benefactors while making enough money to add something extra to the visitor experience. If the museum gets old and stale we lose visitors, creating a cycle whereby we can't afford to operate. Without the superb efforts that our volunteers make to come in every day, working hard to make each and every guest feel welcome and offering tourist information, we would not be able to offer the visitor experience we do. The museum also does a surprising amount of work for foreign students and those seeking work experience. Most people wouldn't realise that as well as British helpers we usually have a few volunteers from France, Germany and Spain working in the museum all the time in order to gain experience in the travel and tourism industry while also improving their English and making friends with the native volunteers and staff.

We've always run a membership or 'Friends' scheme which allows you special privileges within the museum. These include complimentary admission for you and a guest, access to our running days and other events, newsletters and notifications of upcoming events.

In addition to the Friends membership, in future we are going to start offering membership of our 'Supporters' Club' which will offer everything that the Friends membership offers along with a variety of 'surprises' which will include evenings with trustees and patrons, along with invitations to events that are organised and funded by trustees and the Museum's Collections Trust. These could include exclusive dinners at world class hotels in Sussex, London and beyond, free hotel weekends, and invitations to visit some of the private collections of our trustees, many of which are as impressive as the exhibits we have on display, however, they have never been made open to the general public.

The money we make from the Supporters' Club subscriptions will be used to establish a workshop and education centre in the area adjoined to the west side of the museum which is currently being used as a workshop for the 00 diorama. It will go towards modifications to the electrics and emergency lighting, a new disabled ramp and investment in exhibits which will be available to handle to support our education and "special groups" sessions.

As well as these improvements to the public areas of the museum we also intend to create an exclusive Supporters' area above the workshop at the back of the shop and reception area. This area will have additional displays and a comfortable lounge area exclusively for staff and supporters.

If you're interested in becoming a Supporter we have several levels of membership:
Bronze at £10 per month
Silver at £25 per month
Gold at £50 per month
Together with the monthly subscriptions we also welcome annual payments of £100 to £500, we also accept one-off payments of £50 and above.

To take advantage of this Supporters' scheme and all the promotions and offers that come with it then please email us in the first instance info@brightontoymuseum.co.uk

Pride In Brighton

We just wanted to let you know that we will be closed on Saturday 2nd August because we're all going to be enjoying the Pride celebrations.

We are looking forward to a great weekend and hope you have a fantastic time too!

All at Brighton Toy and Model Museum.

Recent Events: Toys In The Community Drop In Evening

On Wednesday we held an event to encourage people currently living in Brighton and Hove to come along and get involved in our project which will collect and share their memories of toys and models from their childhoods.

It was good to meet so many people who wanted to get involved in this project, and we're sure that with their help and the help of the contributors we gain in the future, then the Toys In The Community, Valuing Memories of dolls, teddy bears and construction toys initiative will be a valuable resource for people interested in childhood, play, development and memory for many years to come.
As well as the participants who came in and offered to share their memories we also had some of the consultants who are going to help make this project a reality in the museum to meet the volunteers and show them, and the participants what the process of gathering, collecting and storing the memories will involve.

When the project comes to fruition it will be more than just a relic in a museum, we are planning on keeping digital records of the memories which can then be shared in perpetuity on the internet, through a printed book and exhibit which will travel to various locations in order to bring memories of childhood and toys to where they are wanted.
In order to achieve this goal we have recruited the services of Steven Cragg, a local photographer who specialises in portraits, photographic services and events.
The designer who is taking care of the website which will be dedicated to the Toys In The Community project is Peter Pavement @surfimpress, managing director and founder of Surface Impression.
Paul Dutnall from JunkTV was also here,as  he is taking care of the videography for the project. JunkTV are a local youth and community TV production and screening company and Paul will be helping us tape and edit the interviews that we create.
Also present on the evening was Sarah Hitchings @spokenmemoirs of Spoken Memoirs another local organisation who specialise in recording oral histories, interviewing, oral history training, preservation and research.

Be On TV For Free (If you're a kiddie)