Member Article

Pioneering study reveals North East leisure habits

The leisure habits of people in the North East have been revealed by a new study. Taking Part: the national survey of culture, leisure and sport is based on face-to-face interviews with people over the age of 16 in England, including residents from across the region. Of those questioned in the North East 44.9% said they had visited a library last year, while 42.1% said they had visited a museum and 4.8% attended an archive.

The survey was commissioned by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), English Heritage, Arts Council England and Sport England. It is the first study to contain information on why people do or do not visit museums, libraries and archives in a move to find out what could be done to make these services more attractive.

Penny Wilkinson, Chief Executive of Museums, Libraries and Archives North East, said: “[The report] shows that people already realise that museums, libraries and archives are fun, educational and inspirational places. However, we are keen to do more to ensure that we are providing the services which members of the public really want. “The results will help shape future policy to encourage greater public participation in cultural activities.”

Figures collected by MLA North East show that the number of visits to museums and libraries in the region have risen over the last six years. Ms Wilkinson believes that museums, libraries and archives have been able to attract more visitors thanks to the hard work of staff combined with additional government and lottery funding, which she says must be sustained to enable improvements to continue.

To find out more about MLA North East, visit www.mlanortheast.org.uk. Information about the DCMS Taking Part survey can be found at the DCMS website.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .