If you're low on cash it can be hard to want to support a historical organisation or get the benefits you want. Below I have compared the key memberships that you might want to consider, so that you can choose which is best for you:
English Heritage:
(£49.00 per year for an adult)
English Heritage owns over 400 properties throughout the UK,
including Stonehenge and the Wellington Arch. If you are in the habit of taking
weekend trips or have kids, then this is well worth the buy, as regular visits
will cost you otherwise. Equally, it is worth having a look in your local area
to see if there are any English Heritage owned properties you can easily visit.
Other benefits: Sadly there doesn’t appear to be as many as
with other membership packages, but you get a free handbook that is normally
worth £10.95 and a membership magazine. However, the great benefit with English
Heritage is the Members-only events, which include special tours and workshops.
As an alternative to a day out, these look very appealing!
National Trust:
(£58.00 for Individual adult membership over 26 years)
I know many people who would avoid a National Trust
membership so that they don’t feel they have to put the sticker on their car!
Nonetheless, the National Trust has one of the most useful memberships to have,
partly because they have so many key places in their care. Sadly, this is also
reflected in the price. As a National Trust member, you get both free entry and
parking to the 300 places they look after, which includes coastlines and
gardens as well as the usual historic houses.
Other benefits: Again, you get the free handbook, but you
also get both the National Trust member’s magazine three times a year as well
as regional newsletters. I think the newsletters are particularly brilliant, as
they give you far more insight into what you can feasibly do in say, a weekend,
without having to do research.
(£46 for adult membership, £36 if paid by direct debit in
person)
This is a membership I have, and this is for several
reasons. The first of which is that to get into one of HRP’s properties is VERY
expensive normally. It’s around £22 per person to get into the Tower of London
without a membership, for example, so in getting one you are saving yourself an
insane amount of money. This being said, my second reason is that I visit these
palaces a lot. I have made it a personal mission to visit these places as they
hold the very things I love; objects to do with Tudor and Medieval History! If
you don’t visit any of their five properties often, then you do need to be
aware of getting your money’s worth, as there are only five (now six!)
properties to visit.
Other benefits: you get a 10% discount in the shop, access
to a ‘member’s room’ in Hampton Court Palace, and a lovely magazine that talks
about the history behind upcoming exhibitions. Like the other memberships I’ve
talked about, there is also a free book: “The Secret life of the palaces”,
which is a nice read.
(From £73 for a professional membership, £55 for students)
This is a very expensive one, but the benefits are enormous,
particularly to researchers and hard-core history lovers, as you get free entry
into most of the country’s Museums. Unfortunately, it’s only available for
students, Museum employees and Museum volunteers, but this does encompass a
fair amount of you! I would definitely recommend getting this if you are trying
to break into the industry.
Other benefits: 11 issues of the Museums Journal, which is a
massive networking tool as it includes articles on all kinds of Museums and is
perfect for keeping up to date with current issues in the sector. You also get
free entry into all of the Museums listed here, which as you can see, is quite
a comprehensive list: http://www.museumsassociation.org/members-free-entry.
You get entry into conferences, free professional advice on your career and
free entry into the Museums Practice archive. The Museums Association website
also hardly functions without it. With membership you gain access to parts of
the site that are otherwise off limits.
(The Natural History Museum is £60 for adult membership)
With the larger Museums such as in London, they do offer
individual memberships. Having worked at the Natural History Museum, this is
the membership package I am most familiar with, but there are obviously many
others. In paying you know that the money will go directly to the institution which
is a bonus. Plus, you get access to exclusive events and magazines that relate
directly to that particular Museum.
Other benefits: Noticeably, these membership packages give
extra materials to kids. So if you have little ones who can’t get enough of a
particular Museum, it might be worth getting membership to have these extra
bits! (The Natural History Museum has a magazine exclusively for kids who are
members). Equally, the Natural History Museum for example has temporary
exhibitions which you get to visit for free as a member. These exhibitions are
where Museums make a large portion of their money, as they charge on entry. As
a result, these exhibitions need to be worth visiting and so are heavily
invested in to make them brilliant!
