# National Survey for Scotland's Museums & Galleries The National Survey for Scotland’s Museums and Galleries was commissioned by Museums Galleries Scotland (MGS) and conducted by DC Research in mid-2022, to gather essential information about the museums and galleries sector in Scotland.This was the first sector-wide survey of this scale in twenty years and provides a baseline of sector priorities and needs, as well as highlighting the impact of the pandemic on the museums and galleries sector. Key Findings The survey demonstrates clearly how the sector has been affected by the pandemic –: 5.2 million visits in 2021-22, and 12.8 million in 2019- 20, with a drop in international visitors, but an increase of local visitors. Volunteers: Respondents were asked to compare the current situation with volunteers to two years ago, prior to the pandemic – 47% of respondents reported they have a smaller number of volunteers, with 41% reporting that they have around the same number of volunteers. Only 12% reported having a greater number of volunteers. Two-thirds (64%) of the sector report that they actively engage in the health and wellbeing agenda through targeted programmes. Families are the most proactively targeted group for museums to engage with and tailor programming to (73% reported this), followed by older people (61%), closely followed by those living in deprived areas (58%) and youth engagement (also 58%). The proportion of international visitors dropped from 34% in 2019-20 to just 12% in 2021-22. Conversely, the proportion of national visitors has increased from 38% to 51% whilst the proportion of local people has increased from 28% to 36%. Resilience: The past few years have been a challenging time for the sector. The survey indicates a strong need for support and resources around retaining workforce and meeting skills gaps, and prioritising capital spend, particularly in terms of energy efficiency and climate resilience. The climate emergency is critical to the resilience of museums and galleries. This is reflected in the survey results which show that 79% of respondents describe climate change and sustainability as critically, very, or moderately important. --- ## About SCVO SCVO (Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations) is the national membership organisation for Scotland's voluntary sector. Our role is to champion the role of voluntary organisations in Scotland and to support them to do work that has a positive impact. SCVO supports members and the wider voluntary sector with all aspects of setting up and running a voluntary organisation. SCVO represents the needs and concerns of the voluntary sector to the Scottish government in Holyrood and UK government and Westminster. Through our learning and events programme SCVO offers training and development opportunities to the sector. Members access an extensive membership benefits package including specialist, in-depth, 1-to-1 guidance from our Information Services team and from professional service partners. Access to exclusive membership networks (including comms, employers, governance and policy) supports members to grow their connections, stay up to date, exchange ideas and views with peers, and learn through tailored learning opportunities. SCVO members enjoy free access to Funding Scotland Premium to stay on top of funding opportunities to support their organisation’s financial resilience. Discounts and savings on SCVO products and services (including our HR service, managed IT support, payroll service and events and training) and partner offers provide members with support to allow them to focus on delivering their organisation’s goals. Further SCVO products and services include [extensive digital support](https://scvo.scot/support/digital), a climate action resource [Growing Climate Confidence](https://climateconfident.scot), a voluntary sector publication [Third Force News](https://tfn.scot) and a voluntary sector jobs and recruitment service [Goodmoves](https://goodmoves.org). For more information on SCVO membership, visit [SCVO membership](https://scvo.scot/membership)