Is it time to make a charge?

My children missed visiting the London Museums during school holidays because by the time I'd paid fares across London for the four of us, and then the admission charges there was no money left for the rest of the week. I would have LOVED to have been able to take them to the Science, Natural History and V&A etc for free.
Don't go back to entrance charges, it denies the poorest families admission - and Lord knows but there are more poor and deprived children now than since Victorian times.

I'm always surprised by the amount (usually £10) that we have to pay to go into many cathedrals. I always feel that entrance to a place of worship should be free, maybe with a donation box.
I think museums etc could make a charge for adults but remain free for children

Absolutely, Mauriherb! On our recent visit to Canterbury, we werent even allowed up to the cathedral (without paying a hefty fee.) Firmly told we couldnt even enter grounds- so my lasting memory of the city is a distant spire (observed over roofs of shops)!

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, recently changed their admission policy. $25 admission for Adult visitors; less for minors, seniors, students, members etc. Free admission only for New York State residents.

Other NYC museums still honor the traditional policy of suggested donations. American Museum of Natural History still suggests a $16 dollar donation or whatever person can reasonably afford.

It was a time honored system for years until people began taking advantage. At least one 'clever' jerk joked about routinely dropping a penny into the donation box!

In most countries there is a charge for entrance to museums, a small charge is expected I think, so why not in the UK.
I am lucky to have purchased tickets for the Terracotta Warriors exhibition in Liverpool, for concessions it was only £13 I would have paid any amount just to see this wonderful exhibition.

I think the museums should be free. But perhaps they should pay someone to go through the entrance hall putting donations in to shame other people in to doing likewise. It would be interesting to see if that increased the amount given.
As a pensioner with 2 grandchildren to entertain am very glad the museums are available to us.
And £13 to see the Terracotta Warriors seems a lot to me.

annep, I think I covered no charge by suggesting an alternative. I think if we want such a fantastic resource for our children, then somewhere along the line, someone has to pay for it. If you make it "donations" then some poor people would give their "Widow's mite" while some miserly rich would enjoy it for nothing. It does seem to be an empty gesture offering free access to people who can't afford to get there. Legally schools have to offer that provision (which I am not against) but yet again, I have seen, as a teacher, families who have the latest Xbox or most expensive trainers cry poverty whilst another struggling family will do everything they can to pay their way. I'm afraid this gives me a rather jaded view as to people's generosity. I certainly support any idea where the arts are open to all but including the poorer families but empty gestures don't resolve that. There has to be a balance and I don't profess to know what that is. I think there will have to be some very creative thinking done by the powers that be.

NanaRayna - the London Museums are still free, the £5 is a suggested donation.
You can use any UK senior bus pass on London buses (as around the country) so free bus travel for pensioners.
Children who look under 11 are always free on London buses, the Tube too if you get them a 5-10 Zip Oyster Card. Older children can go free on buses with a similar 10-15 card and get discounted travel on the Tube.

There is a lot of information about free and discounted travel for children, and for visitors, on the Travel for London website.

Here (Denmark) entry fees are being re-introduced, as government funding either is covering much less of the running costs of museums or is no longer being granted.

We can no longer afford to go to museums regularly and I can't imagine families with children can either. So the opportunity to become interested in culture, history, natural history or any other subject museums are the guardians of, is disappearing.

I don't like the thought, but have no idea what the solution is.

Asking for donations seems ridiculous to me. Why would a one-time visitor want to donate? Annual memberships are useful for those living near a museum or zoo, but will not be considered by tourists.

Two weeks ago paid £9 each to get into Ely Cathedral plus £1.50 admin fee and £4.99 for the guidebook, tours were extra (booked on line which was cheaper). Visited the British Museum yesterday for free. The latter was absolutely packed to the rafters and about 75 to 80% were tourists, virtually none of whom were in the shop or cafe. I suppose in principle it would be nice if museums (and cathedrals) were all free, but they have to be staffed, cleaned and maintained, not to mention the objects in them conserved, so who pays for that? Of course it is the British tax payer, since the money has to come from somewhere, but many tax payers will never visit the museums they are paying for. Its very generous of us, however, I cant help feeling a nominal contribution from overseas visitors who are using the museum might help. The internet advises me that 6.9 million people visited the British Museum between April 2015 and March 2016 and that is an awful lot of wear and tear - also it would be an awful lot of extra pennies to keep the place running if there was even a small charge.

It seems that income would help the upkeep of these places. So I suppose after considering all the comments and views, a fee for foreign visitors might be the way to go. Free for all citizens of UK.

Just a thought but how would you tell who is or isn’t a tourist from abroad? Couldn’t judge by accents etc as a lot of people that move here never lose their original accents

SunnySusie if that figure of 6.9m visitors to the British Museum is correct then charging £1 per adult would, I suspect raise at least £4m & £2 would raise about £8m. I do think kids should go in for free.

SunnySusie has said it for me. We have so much available to us that is free and we must use it or lose it! My original point of tourists being asked for an entry fee still stands. UK residents could bring council tax bill or utility bill as proof. Of course the cafes in museums benefit, but with 6.9 million visits per annum to the British Museum I don’t expect to get a table any time soon! As I said in my original post, it was the huge swathes of people snaking through the entrance doors, with no-one I saw putting any cash in the donations box that irked me. There is a finite amount of money available to support the major museums and we have to make a choice how the money is spent. IMHO free for all is not the best choice.

I haven't read the whole thread so forgive me if this has already been suggested. Is there any reason why museums and galleries can't charge through the summer months and have free entry during the winter. That way most tourists would pay and most residents would be able to visit without charge during the 'low' season?

Charging children to visit museums and for their transport there, closing down libraries. What more can we do to disadvantage the children of the less wealthy. After all they chose to be born poor.

One of the swimming pools in a neighbouring borough charges different fees for entry depending on whether you are a resident. You just have to show your Council Tax Bill and ID to get the discounted price. I should imagine it would be quite easy to extend that nationwide if there was a desire to.

grannypauline I agree. We need to ensure we don't further disadvantage already disadvantaged children.

Those living outside London are charged swingeing fees to travel into it either through congestion charge and car park fees or train, station car park and Tube and bus fares. The minimum my DH and I can pay for a trip to London (and we are about three miles outside its border) is just under sixty pounds. To add entry charges to this would be prohibitive for we who are on pensions only.

Someone made the point that the collections were given free but this is not the point as the museums cost many millions of pounds a year to staff and run. They are subsidised by we, the taxpayers, and make other profits through selling food and souvenirs.

When we had jobs we willingly paid a tenner for a cake and a coffee but we sit with our home sarnies in the courtyards now.

If forced to pay we could not go to galleries and museums at all and our, now, rare treat, would cease altogether.

Perhaps our government could negotiate some reciprocity with other nations on the free entrance front. If they waive charges for us they can use our museums and galleries for free. That this has not been so up to now is a bit of an own goal.

I would charge a fee but have exemptions for children, students, unemployed, disabled and OAPs.

I always wonder why OAPs and disabled are included automatically in concessions. Many have high incomes.

Many do not.

'many have high incomes' 'many do not'. This could be said about any group in society.

The point is its unfair to those working who have low incomes and pay tax.

As regards reciprocity: Hungary has free transport all over the country for the over 65s. All you have to do is produce a passport and you get a free ticket! No doubt they were hoping the rest of Europe would follow but I don't think any other country does and we certainly don't!

I believe it is a sign of a proper civilisation: a number of free benefits available to all its citizens (and foreign visitors) - without expensive means testing. The more benefits, the more civilized.