The Royal Air Force Museum is a museum dedicated to the Royal Air Force in the United Kingdom. The museum is a non-departmental public body[1] and is a registered charity.[2] The museum is split into three separate sites:
- Royal Air Force Museum London in Colindale, opened 1972
- Royal Air Force Museum Midlands in Cosford, opened 1979
- MOD Stafford, a current military base where the museum's reserve collection has been stored since 2000; this is not open to the public.
The idea of an RAF Museum was approved by the Air Council in 1931. However the Council only established the museum in 1964. Land at the former Hendon Aerodrome in Colindale, London, was leased from the Ministry of Defence and the museum was opened there by Queen Elizabeth II in 1972. The museum was part of the Ministry of Defence until 1984, when it was split off and became a non-departmental public body. In 1998, the former Cosford Aerospace Museum formerly merged with the RAF Museum and became its second public site.[3]
The current governing document of the museum is a Royal charter granted in 2021.[4] In the financial year ending 2023, the museum had an income of £19.8 million. It had 202 employees, assisted by 384 volunteers, and is governed by a group of 11 trustees.[4]
See also
edit- Simon Greenish, former Director of Collections
- Maggie Appleton, CEO
References
edit- ^ "Royal Air Force Museum". Gov.uk. UK Government. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
- ^ "Royal Air Force Museum - Charity 1197541". Charity Commission for England and Wales. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
- ^ "Records of the Royal Air Force Museum". 1965–1993. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
- ^ a b "Royal Air Force Museum - Charity 1197541". prd-ds-register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk. Retrieved 8 December 2024.