Richard Curtis is the Chairman of the Waterworks Museum in Hereford and has seen his volunteers raise a trophy on more than one occasion.
We spoke to him about why he feels it is important for the museum, and his volunteers, to be part of these awards.
He said: “The West Midlands Volunteer Awards have played a vital role in raising the profile of Hereford’s Waterworks Museum by enhancing general public understanding and attracting visitors.
“As well as recognising the tremendous efforts of museum volunteers, the Awards have also helped us to recruit new ones – and they are also useful differentiators when it comes to bidding for grant funding and other forms of support.”
The Waterworks Museum won the Volunteer Project Award in both 2016 and 2018.
Mr Curtis continued: “We won the Volunteer Project Award in 2016 in recognition of the sterling work carried out by a large team of volunteers to create an outdoor exhibit area designed for children, with nine life-size and hands-on exhibits linked to water supply for visitors to use in a safe environment.
“It took 20 volunteers over five years, using 30 different skill sets and over 3,000 man-hours to create the Heritage Water Park and the area helped to change public recognition and promote the museum as a visitor attraction and not just a heritage museum for engineering and steam enthusiasts.
“In 2018 we won a second award for a five-year project that took engineering donations from museums as far afield as Scotland and Norfolk. The outcome was a new exhibit of local provenance replicating the Edwardian water supply system – the Massington Lineshaft Project.
“The award was given to recognise the collaborative nature of the scheme, as well as the engineering challenges faced.”
To nominate now visit https://mdwm.org.uk/peer-to-peer/ and follow the guidance to complete the entry form.
The Hereford Waterworks Museum is an industrial heritage museum which tells the story of public water supplies and associated public health and social development since the mid Victorian era.
The museum is also one of Herefordshire’s relatively few family visitor attractions – with approximately 5,000 visitors each year.
They are open 70 days a year – every Tuesday plus 20 family open-days with all engines working, every second last Sunday and Holiday Mondays between April and October. Many of these days have special events and features.
For more information visit https://www.waterworksmuseum.org.uk/
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