British Motor Museum Meetings & Events is helping inspire the next generation, supporting the Museum’s learning and family programmes as visits by children aged five to 16 have risen by 20% so far this year. For conference organisers, it highlights an often-overlooked aspect of event legacy and impact: what their venue choice helps make possible.
The Museum welcomes around 6,000 schoolchildren annually, while family visits and seasonal activities spark curiosity about design, engineering and technology. Visits by under-fives have also increased by 12% this year, supporting the Museum’s ambition to inspire future STEM careers.
That impact was evident at the Museum’s STEM Careers Days in June, where more than 300 pupils aged 11 to 16 took part in talks and workshops led by engineers, game developers and technology innovators. Afterwards, the number of students saying they would enjoy a STEM career rose by 37%, while confidence in choosing the right pathway more than doubled.
Peter Armstrong, CEO, British Motor Museum Meetings & Events, said:“When a child discovers an interest in engineering during a school visit, or a family explores the Museum together, our meetings and events business has helped make that experience possible. Organisers and delegates may never meet those children, but their event has contributed to something that could stay with them for years.”
As the trading subsidiary of the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust, every penny of profit from the meetings and events business supports the charity’s mission to collect, conserve, share and inspire. Conference bookings help fund the people, collections and programmes that bring the Museum to life, as well as community outreach work engaging more than 1,000 people each year through youth groups, dementia cafés and projects tackling loneliness and isolation.
This sustainable funding model has existed since the Museum’s inception. Founding Patron Peter Mitchell OBE recognised the need for commercial income and incorporated meetings and events facilities into the plans from the outset. Today, that foresight continues to support both the preservation of Britain’s automotive heritage and engagement with new audiences.
The connection between conferencing and charitable impact demonstrates how commercial activity can create lasting benefits. Alongside donations and grants, events income helps power the Museum’s ambition to preserve heritage, engage communities and inspire future generation
For corporate and association organisers, British Motor Museum Meetings & Events offers a practical way to align business objectives with a wider purpose. While events deliver opportunities for collaboration and learning, the profits generated help sustain a cultural institution serving future generations.
Under its positioning, “Where industry shapes what’s next”, British Motor Museum Meetings & Events demonstrates that the ideas shared during a conference can influence the future, and so can the choice of where it takes place.
