Flexible Volunteering: A change of pace
Many people who wish to support museums cannot commit to regular volunteering opportunities for a variety of reasons including work, family commitments, accessibility, location and sometimes other volunteering roles. Representatives from Croft Castle, National Trust, Heritage & Culture Warwickshire (HCW) and Telford & Wrekin Council will describe their experiences of creating, recruiting and managing new volunteering opportunities that support the aims of their organisations without requiring a regular or long term commitment.
Donna Owen, House Steward and Volunteer Champion, Croft Castle will describe the development of ‘Visiteering: Conservation in the Castle,’ a programme of events aimed at raising awareness, allowing visitors to gain an insight into the important work involved in conservation – whilst also getting them to help out with the cleaning! Delegates will get to experience ‘Conservation in the Castle’ themselves.
Sarah Hann, Volunteer Coordinator, Sharon Forman, Warwickshire Bytes Project Archivist and Suzannah Brooks, Warwickshire Bytes Project Apprentice will outline Heritage & Culture Warwickshire’s approach to virtual volunteering. From explaining how the Warwickshire Bytes project allows people to volunteer from home and make Warwickshire’s collections available to a wider audience, to outlining #silvertakeover; a project encouraging older volunteers to add their voices to HCW’s social media presence.
Jodie Lloyd, Culture Project Specialist will describe how Telford & Wrekin Council recruited and worked with a wide range of volunteers, or GEMs (Golden Event Makers) to support Telford50, a programme of events and celebrations across the borough aimed at marking the 50th anniversary of Telford in 2018.
Refreshments will be provided.
Priority will be given to delegates from non-NPO museums which are Accredited or officially Working Towards Accreditation. Maximum of two delegates per museum.
14 November – Flexible Volunteering: A change of pace
10am-1pm, Croft Castle and Parkland, Yarpole near Leominster, Herefordshire, HR6 0BL
Awards ceremony countdown is on!
With just weeks to go before we host the West Midlands Volunteer Awards we are putting the final touches to plans for the glittering celebration.
Representatives and volunteers from museums across the West Midlands will attend the ceremony, which is being held in Birmingham Hippodrome’s Patrick Centre, on Wednesday, September 11th, from 4pm – 8pm.
Our awards, now in their fourth year, have become a key fixture in the volunteer calendar and we are very much looking forward to welcoming all of our 2019 finalists.
The awards were launched in 2016 to recognise the critical role volunteers play in keeping museums running throughout the West Midlands. Since then, more than 400 guests have attended the annual ceremonies and from 90 nominated finalists, 28 individuals and groups have been chosen as overall winners.
Nominations were welcomed from across the region and the scale and quality of entries has been fantastic.
The judges will decide winners in four categories – individual, group, young person (25 and under), and project. And the winner of the prestigious Judge’s Award for Excellence, chosen from finalists in all four categories, will also receive £500 to spend on the museum, heritage site, or art gallery project of their choice.
Guests will be treated to an evening of entertainment that is sure to make it an unforgettable event. In previous years we have invited travelling musicians, hip hop crews, and opera improvisation troupes to take to the stage and keep attendees happy.
We’re not giving anything away just yet but we guarantee an evening unlike any other.
You can see our 2019 finalists here: https://mdwm.org.uk/news/volunteer-awards-finalists-announced/
We look forward to meeting our wonderful finalists soon.
Bright Ideas: New Perspectives on Museum Lighting
What are the latest innovations and trends in lighting? And how can museums use lighting to maximum effect as part of their exhibition design?
This one day Museums Association conference will explore the current opportunities that lighting innovation offers, examining the benefits as well as the challenges.
Lighting designers will share some of the most recent and exciting technological developments, and explain how these might be used in museums to create atmosphere and show off objects without compromising conservation and environmental standards.
There will also be a range of case studies delivered by a range of museums with different budgets, sharing how they are using lighting in their exhibition design.
Delegates will have the opportunity to talk to designers over an extended lunch period, visit tabletop stands and enjoy specially commissioned demos.
If you work in displays, exhibitions, conservation, design and interpretation, this seminar brings you up to date with innovations in museum lighting.
Click here for more information and to book.
11 September 9.30am-4.30pm
Science and Industry Museum, Manchester M3 4FP
