05:00, 22 May 2025
Words by Cheyanne Bryan, Editorial and Campaign Marketing Executive, London
The founder of Art Explora has launched a campaign to tackle cultural inequality for schoolchildren in the UK.
A heartwarming story for World Day of Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development.
French entrepreneur Frédéric Jousset has officially launched a campaign through his foundation, Art Explora with the British Museum to offer over 100,000 opportunities for 7-11 year-olds to have school trips to museums across the country.
Their new collaborative initiative, Time Odyssey, provides an exciting, new interactive learning experience to take kids on a visit to their local museum both physically and online.
The programme is completely free experience, meaning parents and carers don’t have to pay for both the museum visit and the school transport costs. - to ensure all schools can take part.
Frédéric Jousset, President and Founder of Art Explora says: “School trips offer enrichment that cannot be experienced in the classroom. This should be a fundamental right for young people, not be an optional extra.
“Time Odyssey levels the playing field, making sure that all children have access to culture, no matter what their background.”
The programme’s launch follows the charity’s commission of new data that shows how since the pandemic, school visits have not increased back to regular rates.
Over 60% of teachers say they had not taken their class to a museum on a school trip in the last year, despite 90% of teachers agreeing that every child should visit a museum on a school trip before leaving primary school,
It is important to note that more than half of the teachers surveyed said that cost is the main barrier with a greater disparity of access for children from lower socio-economic backgrounds outside London.
At Smiley Movement, we like to elevate the work of charities across the world. Here are three charities whose causes align with the themes in this article.
Art Explora. This is an international foundation that inspires new encounters between arts and cultures, and the people. They operate locally, nationally and internationally. Learn more here.
Variety, the Children’s Charity. This charity provides support and programmes to disadvantaged and less able children across the UK. Support them here.
Kids in Museums. This UK charity works with cultural institutions such as museums and heritage sites to secondhand bicycles and delivers them to people seeking refuge and asylum in the UK. Find out more here.
