The British Association of Friends of Museums (BAFM) is an independent organisation for Friends, supporters, and volunteers in

museums A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

, galleries, and

heritage site A historic site or heritage site is an official location where pieces of political, military, cultural, or social history have been preserved due to their cultural heritage value. Historic sites are usually protected by law, and many have been re ...

s within the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

.What is BAFM?
, British Association of Friends of Museums. It was established in 1973. It is a registered charity no 1159670. BAFM represents around 200,000 Friends and volunteers in the UK. It provides a network of support from people with practical experience of running Friends organisations and is a central source of information. It has links with UK Area Museum Councils and other national UK organisations such as: *

Association of Independent Museums The Association of Independent Museums (AIM) is an organisation that represents and supports independent museums based in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1977. AIM produces the ''Aim Bulletin'', a bi-monthly magazine that is free for mem ...

(AIM) *

Charity Commission for England and Wales , type = Non-ministerial government department , seal = , seal_caption = , logo = Charity Commission for England and Wales logo.svg , logo_caption = , formed = , preceding1 = , d ...

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport , type = Department , logo = Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport logo.svg , logo_width = , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = Gove ...

(DCMS) (

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) *

Museums Association The Museums Association (MA) is a professional membership organisation based in London for museum, gallery and heritage professionals, museums, galleries and heritage organisations, and companies that work in the museum, gallery and heritage s ...

(MA) *

National Council for Voluntary Organisations The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) is the umbrella body for the voluntary and community sector in England. It is a registered charity (no 225922). NCVO works to support the voluntary and community sector and to create an ...

(NCVO) BAFM is a member of the

World Federation of Friends of Museums In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

. It organizes national and regional events, provides a ''Handbook for Friends'', a ''Handbook for Heritage Volunteer Managers & Administrators'', and many information sheets. The BAFM publish a biannual Journal.

President

* 2005-2014 Loyd Grossman OBE, FSA. * Dame

Rosemary Butler Rosemary Ann Butler (born April 6, 1947) is an American singer. She began her career playing bass guitar and singing in an all-female band named the Ladybirds while attending Fullerton Union High School in Fullerton, California. The band appeared ...

DBE.

Annual Conferences

*1989 Annual Conference at

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

. *2008 35th Annual Conference at

Penzance Penzance ( ; kw, Pennsans) is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is about west-southwest of Plymouth and west-southwest of London. Situated ...

. *2009 36th Annual Conference and AGM at

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

. *2010 BAFM 37th Annual Conference & AGM

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24–26 September 2010. *2014 41st Annual Conference at

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

. *2015 42nd Annual Conference at

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

. *2016 43rd Annual Conference at the Ironbridge Gorge Museum,

Coalbrookdale Coalbrookdale is a village in the Ironbridge Gorge in Shropshire, England, containing a settlement of great significance in the history of iron ore smelting. It lies within the civil parish called the Gorge. This is where iron ore was first s ...

. *2017 44th Annual Conference at the

London Transport Museum The London Transport Museum (often abbreviated as the LTM) is a transport museum based in Covent Garden, London. The museum predominantly hosts exhibits relating to the heritage of London's transport, as well as conserving and explaining the h ...

. *2018 Annual Conference at

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

. The winner of the first best newsletter award was The Black Country Museum Friends. *2019 Annual Conference at

Reading, Berkshire Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, Southeast England, southeast England. Located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the rivers River Thames, Thames and River Kennet, Kennet, the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 mot ...

. The winner of the best newsletter was the Lyme Regis Museum Friends. *2020 AGM held remotely. *2021 Annual AGM on Zoom. *2022 49th Annual Conference at

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

. October 2022 *2023 50th Annual Conference at

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

*2024 51st Annual Conference at

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

Awards

Since 2021 BAFM has operated an IMPACT award currently (2022) £1k. * The Friends of The Egypt Centre in

were winners of 2022 Impact Award. Runners Up were The Friends of Beamish Museum. Highly commended were: The Friends of Lyme Regis Museum, The Friends of Wisbech and Fenland Museum, Herefordshire Museum Service Support Group and The Friends of Reading Museum. *2021 Impact Winners - Friends of

Upminster Windmill Upminster Windmill is a Grade II* listed smock mill located in Upminster in the London Borough of Havering, England. It was formerly known as Abraham's Mill and was in Essex when built. It has been restored and is a museum open to the public at ...

. Highly Commended were: Costume and Textile Association, The Friends of the

Judges Lodgings, Lancaster The Judges' Lodgings, formerly a town house and now a museum, is located between Church Street and Castle Hill, Lancaster, Lancashire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed buildi ...

and The Friends of

The Whitworth The Whitworth is an art gallery in Manchester, England, containing about 55,000 items in its collection. The gallery is located in Whitworth Park and is part of the University of Manchester. In 2015, the Whitworth reopened after it was transfor ...

. Robert Logan Award * 2015 Jasmine Farram of Tunbridge Wells Museum and Art Gallery. * 2019 Holiday Donaldson

References

External links

* Organizations established in 1973 Museum organizations Non-profit organisations based in the United Kingdom 1973 establishments in the United Kingdom {{UK-org-stub