Kids in Museums to keep ‘opening doors’ with incoming chair

Kids in Museums has announced that Hampshire Cultural Trust chief executive PAUL SAPWELL will take over as chair of the board of trustees.

As head of one of the UK’s largest regional museums and arts charities, Sapwell brings experience of leadership across culture, heritage and youth-focused charities and “a strong track record” in governance, partnership working and advocacy.

He claims to be particularly passionate about museums being “welcoming, inspiring places that listen to young audiences and reflect their lives, stories and creativity”.

Sapwell will chair the board of the charity’s nine trustees, including two young trustees, aged between 18 and 25.

“I’m pleased to be joining an organisation that leads the sector in addressing barriers to access to museums for families, children and young people,” he said.

“I’ve spent my career working for organisations that are about opening doors – supporting young people, families and communities to have greater access and feel confident in spaces and places that can sometimes feel intimidating or out of reach.

“That work has shaped how I see culture; not as something to be protected from people, but something that grows when more people feel they belong.”

Prior to starting at the Hampshire Cultural Trust in 2016, Sapwell worked at the charity and social enterprise Youth Hostels Association as operations manager and head of commercial.

Thanking the outgoing chair VANESSA EKE for her “drive, leadership and care over the past three and a half years,” Sapwell said he was “looking forward” to working with the “brilliant” Kids in Museums team and the executive director ALISON BOWER.

Under Eke’s leadership, Kids in Museums saw its Arts Council England funding renewed in 2022 and was named Best Sector Support Organisation at the Museums + Heritage Awards in 2023.