The Hockey Museum (THM) is the first and only museum of hockey in the world. It aims to preserve, share and celebrate the rich history and heritage of the sport of hockey, not only in Britain where the ‘modern’ game started, but also from all round the world.
The museum is home to a growing collection of hockey archives, artefacts and memorabilia, which it makes accessible to the hockey family and the wider public through its website, newsletters, displays and other exhibitions.
THM’s Vision
"Inspiring people to embrace hockey's values by sharing engaging stories through innovation and inclusivity".
THM’s Mission
We will achieve this Vision by:
- Putting our audiences first;
- Collecting, researching and preserving the hockey story;
- Reaching out to players and non-players;
- Being digital by default; and
- Achieving sustainability through representative governance and resilient finances, underpinned by an ethos of training and skills development for all.
THM’s Strategic Aims
Implementation of the Mission leads to the following Strategic Aims:
- Collections: collecting, researching and preserving the hockey story;
- Audiences:
Greater engagement online, particularly through social media;
Increased engagement with the Clubs community;
Increased engagement with the Woking community; and
Increased engagement with the International community. - Outreach: reaching out to players and non-players;
- Digital: becoming digital by default by 2024; and
- Sustainability:
Strengthening the museum’s governance and increasing its diversity;
Increasing and broadening the museum’s income base; and
Developing the museum’s skills base through training.
The above Vision, Mission and Strategic Aims were born of a resilience review of the museum in 2019, which also led to the creation of a new, five-year Strategic Action Plan (SAP). A precis of the Plan can be downloaded my clicking the PDF icon to the right.
Further Background
THM was set up as a Trust in the autumn of 2011 before gaining Charitable Status in the summer of 2012. It was awarded Full Museum Accreditation by the Arts Council England in May 2018. It is supported by Woking Borough Council and by England Hockey and works in partnership with the International Hockey Federation (FIH) to lead their work to preserve hockey’s international history. THM is a member of Sporting Heritage, the Museums Association (MA), the Association of Independent Museums (AIM) and the Surrey Museums Partnership and has been the recipient of several National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) grants.
In 2017, THM opened its first exhibition space at its home in Woking town centre and it has created successful exhibitions at international hockey events since 2012.
The archives and collections held by THM are an organic resource and we are encouraging the community to participate in and contribute to their development and preservation.
THM has an enthusiastic group of volunteers who are the lifeblood of the organisation. They work together to preserve, record and store all the material donated to the museum; they help promote the existence of THM far and wide as well as a host of other exciting roles. Please visit the volunteering page if you are interested in joining our family and getting involved.
Please get in touch using the contact form.